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"RECOLLECTIONS OF AN 
OLD SETTLER." 



J0^ 

STORIES OF KENT AND VICINITY IN 

PIONEER TIMES. 



J0^ 



"Written l>y CHristian CacRler (Deceased), in 187'^. 




CHRISTIAN CACKLER. 



REPUBLISHED BY THE KENT COURIER, 1904. 



— 3— 



**R.ecollections of an Old Settler.' 



The qaestion has often been asked, 
what this country looked like in early 
days. Inasmaoh as I was one of the 
early settlers, I thought I would give 
you some idea of it. I came into this 
country, or into Hudson . township, the 
10th day of May, 1804. At that time 
this country was an unbroken wilder- 
ness, filled up with wild men and wild 
animals. Probably forty Indians to one 
white man. They were very friendly 
and peaceable. There were three tribes 
that inhabited this section of country — 
the Senecas, the Taways, the Ohippe- 
ways. They appeared to live very 
friendly with each other as tribes. They 
had their hunting grounds all bounded, 
so that each tribe knew their bounds as 
well as yon would know your farm. The 
Seneca Chief's name was John Bigson. 
He was, I should think, a little short of 
six feet tall, of a stout, muscular frame, 
and keen black eyes, and a well propor- 
tiooed man ; had a stern look, and what 
he said was law with his tribe. He 
scarcely ever smiled, and I tbink he was 
perfectly honest, and what he said he 
meant. If he promised you anything, 
you might be sure of it, and if any of 
the rest promised anything, they had to 
be as good as their word. And if you 
promised them anything, they looked 
for it with as much grace, and if you 
lied to them, they would never forget it. 

The Taway Chief's name was Stig- 
nish He was a very pleasant looking 
man, and honor and honesty was his 



law, and he taught his people so. The 
Seneca Chief had his headquarters in 
Streetsboro, on land now owned by 
Samuel Clin, that was quarters on or 
near the Cuyahoga River. I have been 
there a great many times when they 
lived there, and if they had anything 
they could bestow upon you in the way 
of eatables, it was as free as the water. 
They thought it was a privilege to give, 
for they thought it was a token of 
friendship, and if they gave one, they 
gave all that were present. Their wig- 
wam was about twenty-five feet long or 
more, and they had their fire through 
the middle, and had it so constructed as 
to leave room for a tier of them to lie 
down on each side of the fire, so as to 
have their feet to the fire, for they lay 
on their skins and furs, and covered 
over with their blankets. .They had a 
space left open on the ridge of their 
camp to let the smoke pass out. They 
had their wigwam thatched with bark, 
so that it was tight and warm, and had 
a door in each end, so that they could 
haul in their wood without much chop- 
ping. They lay there as warm and 
comfortable as a man in his palace. The 
Seneca Chief used to gather in all his 
family connections and lay there 
through the winter. And they would 
kill their meat before the hardest weath- 
er commenced, so they would not be 
compelled to go out in bad weather to get 
their living. In the Spring they would 
scatter out over their hunting grounds. 



each family by themselves, and build 
their wigwams for the summer. There 
were all sorts of game all around them, 
and the Indians were almost as an ani- 
mal amongst animals. They did not 
shoot one of them unless they got close 
to them, so as to make sure work of it 
They were as careful of their game as 
we are of our cattle ; they would kill 
nothing unless wanted for present use 
The Indian was placed in the happiest 
condition of any race of people that I 
ever saw. The God of nature had pro- 
vided everything that the heart could 
wish for. They had nothing to vex or 
perplex, or to disturb the mind. They 
gave no thought for the morrow, but let 
every day provide for itself. They had 
no government expenses, no taxes to 
pay, no ja'ls to build, no locks to buy to 
secure their property, which was always 
secure, if they put it out of reach of 
the dogs and wolves. They meant 
to make honor and honesty their rule of 
life, and when they left their camps, 
they set up sticks as a signal that there 
was nobody at home, and everything 
was secure. I think the Indian is the 
happiest man in the world, in the wil- 
derness. He can get up, kill and slay the 
fattept of the land, and lie down and 
take his ease, and no one to molest or to 
make him afraid. I have often inquired 
why it is, that the man of the forest is 
so much more honest than the civilized 
and christianized world. I never knew 
that they had any language of their own 
to swear or blaspheme in, at least not 
till the whites taught them, and when 
they got so as to repeat the oaths, they 
would tickle and laugh, and thought it 



was something very nice or cunning. 
The Indian is peculiar in his customs 
and habits. He will live on meat en- 
tirely. He will eat all kinds of animals 
and fish, and horses, or anything that a 
dog will eat, and sometimes I have 
thought what a dog would not eat. In 
the summer they greased themselves 
where their clothinj? does not cover 
their skin, so as to prevent gnats and 
mosquitos from biting them, and often 
paint their faces in streaks. That de- 
notes peace and friendship. They love 
whiskey, and get drunk often. 

I attended one of their drunken 
scrapes, in Hudson, at Heman Oviatt's, 
who kept a little Indian store, to trade 
with them, to get their skins and furs, 
and kept whisky. It was the Taway 
tribe ; there were about fifteen or 
eighteen of them. They got their 
whisky, and had a deer skin suit made 
like a little boy's suit, all whole, but 
open before so they could stick their 
legs and arms in, and tied up before, 
and had it fringed all around the sleeves 
and legs. The fringe was abont three 
inches long. On these fringes they had 
claws of several different kinds, deer, 
bear, turkey, coon, and a great variety 
of other claws. They were almost cov- 
ered over with claws. One of them 
would put on the suit and get on the 
floor to dance. Two others would pat 
and hum so as to keep time. The one 
that was dancing would jump, hop and 
kick around over the floor. It appeared 
that the more he could make these claws 
rattle the better the dance. The rattling 
at the claws appeared to be the object of 
his dance, and when he got tired he 



would take a driak, and another pat it 
on. He would try his activity, and an- 
other, and another, until they got so 
drank they could not perform. But 
when they got perfectly drunk with 
that suit on, the claws rattling looked 
more like the devil than anything I ever 
saw. He would have made a Santa 
Olaus in good earnest. They kept it up 
almost two days. But before they com- 
menced, they gave up their knives, 
guns, and tomahawks, to the squaws, 
who would keep sober, until the Indians 
got sober, when they returned the im- 
plements to the Indians, and then the 
squaws went into it and got as drunk as 
could be, and tumbled around on the 
ground, and did not appear to have any 
pride or shame about them. There were 
two that kept sober to take care of the 
papooses, while the others had their 
frolic. But after they got through, they 
looked as though they had lost their 
best friends. They had their papooses 
tied on a board, and had them standing 
up against the house or fence. You did 
not hear a whimper from th»m scarcely 
ever. And when they are traveling, 
they hang a board on their backs, with 
the papooses strapped to it, and with a 
strap across their forehead, the papoose 
stands there looking back. And when 
they come to a house they set them up 
outside of the door until they get ready 
to go again. They never bring them 
into a house unless it is cold weather. 
They strap their young ones on a board 
for the purpose of making them straight. 
You never saw an Indian but who was 
as straight as a string. Oviatt made 
himself rich out of those Indians, with 



whisky, and a few Other Indian trinkets, 
and when he got all he could out of 
them, he cried out, "vanity, vanity, and 
vexation of spirit," for whisky is the 
root of all evil. 

The Indians were a peculiar people in 
their notions. In June, 1806, when the 
total eclipse occurred, they did not 
know anything of it until it began to be 
dark. They became very much fright- 
ened, and thought the Bad Spirit had 
gone to war with the Good Spirit. They 
formed themselves in a line of battle, 
and commenced firing at the Bad Spirit, 
and as the glimpse of the sun came out 
on the opposite side, one of them fired, 
aud he gained the victory, and they 
made him Chief, or so it was said. 

The Seneca Chief lost his wife or 
squaw in Streetsboro, at their camp, 
where they made their headquarters, 
near the river, on Samuel Olin's farm, 
in the Summer of 1809. She was a 
large, stout woman, ancj very good look- 
ing for an Indian Squaw ; I should 
think between fifty and sixty years old. 
They are a proud people in their way. 
They had a calico frock made, which 
was ruffled up nicely, and almost cov- 
ered up with silver brooches and large 
silver bands around her wrists and 
ankles. They dug a grave about three 
feet deep, and put a bark on the bottom 
and on each^ide, and rolled her up in a 
blanket and laid her in, and put a bark 
on the top over all but her face, and 
that was so arranged that when she 
was covered up with dirt there was a 
hole left so that she could see out, when 
she bhould rise again at some future 
period. They believe that a man ought 



— 6— 



to be good and honest, and that a man 
who will lie, steal, and cheat, ought not 
to live. When they are your friend, they 
are a friend indeed ; but as enemies, 

they know no mercy. They believe in 
punishing the wii;ked for their evil 

deeds. 

DESCRIPTION OF ANIMALS, ETC. 

This used to be one of the greatest 
Qounties in the world for a great variety 
of game. There were the Elk, Deer, 
Bear, Wolf, Panther, Wild Oat, Otter, 
Beaver, Wollynigs, Porcupine, Raccoon, 
and a great variety of small animals. 
Of the feathered flock, there were 
Swains, Geese, Ducks, Turkeys, Bald 
Eagles, Gray Eagles, Ravens, Buzzards, 
Crows, Owls, and a great variety of 
small birds, that used to make the forest 
ring with their sweet songs, as one hap- 
py family of the forest. And where are 
they now? The white man has thrown 
deatti and destruction among them, and 
they have all disappeared and gone to 
retura no more forever. There was the 
Indian that was placed in the forest 
with his happy family of beasts and 
birds ; he was placed in the happiest 
situation of any human being, for he 
had everything that human heart could 
wish for ; everything was plenty and 
easily gotten, and he lived according to 
the counsel that was given of old : 
"Give no thought of the morrow, but 
let every day provide for itself." For 
there was all sorts of game playing 
around that was for their use, and all 
the ponds, rivers and brooks filled with 
fish, aiad all the feathered flocks that 
used to live here : and there were the 
great forests that weye filled with bees 



and honey in great quantities, and all 
sorts of wild fruits, such as whortleber- 
ries, blackberries, cranberries, black- 
haws, chestnuts, hickorynuts, butter- 
nuts, etc. Can a man be placed in a 
pleasanter situation in this lifeV 

The Indian has not the selfish and 
covetous disposition of the white man. 
He does not want to lay up riches to 
make him trouble in this world, but to 
take all the comfort he can in this life, 
and I think if honor and honesty con- 
stitute good men, they had it. The In- 
dian has gone, with all his forest flocks, 
to return no more. They have been 
driven from their homes, their country,, 
and their enjoyments of life, and to 
leave their father's and mother's graves, 
where they had been raised and so fond- 
ly dandled on their knees And for 
what? Merely to gratify and make 
room for a covetous ahd craving dispo- 
sition that can never be satisfied ; like 
Alexander of old, when he had con- 
quered the whole world, he sat down 
and wept because there were no more 
worlds to conquer. 

I will now give yon a short history of 
the animals of the forest. The bntt'alo 
disappeared about a century ago. The 
elk stayed here until about 1814. They 
are peculiar creatures in some respects. 
They are larger than the deer, but seem 
to be of the same species They have 
large horns, which drop off every year, 
in the month of December, or when the 
weather gets very cold. I think they 
freeze off, for when freezing cold weath- 
er begins the horn will begin to crack 
arouud close to the head, where the 
heat of the animal and the cold meet, 



-7— 



and will keep cracking for two or three 
weeks before it drops off, then heals 
over, and in the Spring, when warm 
weather begins, the horn begins to grow 
again, with a skin over it, and it is soft. 
In August the horns get their growth 
and perfect shape. They then rub off 
the skin or valvet, as we used to call it. 
They then lay in the sun and dry their 
horns until they become hard. The deer 
pursues the same course with its horns. 

I helped to run out the township of 
Dover, west of Rocky River, bordering 
on the lake. We surveyed it in 1810. 
At that time there were a great many 
elk in that township. We used to start 
them almost every day. They run in 
large nerds, like deer, only the old 
bucks, they keep in flocks by themselves 
until November, then they mingle in 
with the rest. They have their fawns 
in June, and when they are young they 
are spotted all over with white, and 
while they have the spots on there is 
nothing that can follow their tracks by 
scent. They do not leave any scent 
until the spots come off. They hide 
their fawns when they are young, and 
suckle them twice a day. I have seen 
elk horns that were over three and a 
half feet long and full of prongs, and I 
should think would weigh six pounds 
each. A dog cannot do anything with 
them, nor can a wolf. They will strike 
with their feet almost as hard as a horse 
will kick. They will knock a dog al- 
most in pieces in a very few minutes, 
especially if there are two or more to- 
gether. 

The deer is smaller, but I think can 
run the faster of the two. The panther 



is a hard customer. He is the master 
animal that roams the forest, except the 
bear. It is said he is the master of the 
forest. It is not worth while to give you 
a history of the panther, because you 
have seen them in the shows. They 
are the same animal in the forest. They 
are of the cat kind, very sly and secret. 
They often catch deer by getting up on 
some leaning tree, or one that hangs 
over a path where the deer travel, and 
jump down on them, aad if they onoe 
get hold of them they are a sure prey. 
My brother-in-law killed one of them in 
Boston, town 3, in the 11th range of 
townships, and he and I used to go to- 
gether to a lick where they used to come 
to suck, and to kill the deer in the Sum- 
mer. There we fixed a blind to sit be- 
hind, so as to shoot them when they 
came there to suck in the evening. One 
evening my brother-in-law went there 
alone until dark, when he heard some- 
thing coming up a hollow towards him, 
stepping very carefully, and when it got 
within eight or ten rods of him it 
stopped for some time, and then changed 
his course up around him. Stepping very 
carefully, he could hear him walk in 
the dry leaves. He could not imagine 
what it could be. He had a big dog 
with him, and the dog would partly get 
up and growl, which he was not accus- 
tomed to do when there was deer about. 
He would pat him on the head and 
make him lie down and be still. But 
the dog was not easily quieted, and still 
he could hear the stepping and working 
up around him, and the dog ^ot so un- 
easy, and he thought it did not step like 
a deer, so he let the dog go, and when 



-8- 



the dog got near it, he heard eomethiog 
mnniDg np a tree, and making a wonder- 
ful scratching and tearing. He went up 
to the tree and bnilt a big fire, and 
thonght he wonld keep it np anti] 
morning. He thonght it mnet be a bear. 
He kept up a good fire, and about one 
hour before daylight he heard it com- 
ing down the tree on the opposite side 
from the fire, and when it got fifteen 
or sixteen feet from the ground it 
jumped off and ran, but the dog soon 
run it np another tree, and kept 
barking so it dare not come down. 
They kept it np until morning, when 
he saw what it was. He drew up his 
rifle and thought he would shoot it 
through the head, and make sure work 
of it. When the gun cracked, down 
it came, and the dog jumped on it, 
but the panther soon tore him so he was 
glad to let go of it, and up the tree it 
went again about twenty feet, and got 
on a limb and got very sick. He went 
to load his rifle again, but had no bullet 
with him. He did not know what to 
do, but he put in his powder and tow, 
and whittled out plugs of wood, and 
fired at it. One of them happened to 
hit it right, and down it came, and 
he and the dog dispatched it. It was 
a big male one. His skin was about 
eight feet from the tip of his nose to the 
end of his tail, and had monstrous clawe. 
It was in the Summer of 1805 or 1806 
that it took place. 

I think it was in 1807, my brother and 
myself went out bee hunting about the 
first of March. There came a warm day, 
and the bees in the woods used to fly 
out and fall on the snow, so we used to 



find bee-trees in that way. We came to 
a big tree that was scratched up very 
much by bears. We concluded that 
there must be some bears in it. There 
was a big hole about fifty feet up the 
tree. We went home and got my father 
and brother-in-law, Daily, and some 
dogs, guns and axes to cut down the 
tree with. 

Daily and my oldest brother placed 
themselves on each side of the tree 
where the hole would be when the tree 
fell. When the tree feil it split all to 
pieces, and out tumbled a big bear. He 
had lain so long in the tree he could not 
run much. The dogs jumped on him, 
and he soon got one of them down, and 
was about killing him, when Daily shot 
him through, which made him more 
savage, and my brother shot him through 
the head and that stopped his career. 
We went back to his nest where we 
found three cubs about the size of black 
squirrels. They have very little young 
ones for so large animals. They hole 
up in December, and have their cubs 
in February, and lay there until warm 
weather comes before they bring them 
out, when the herbage begins to grow. 
Then they begin to feed and give milk 
for their young. They never have 
more than three cubs at a time, or I 
never saw any more together. They 
run with their cubs about fifteen 
months, then they separate, and yon 
never find two together after that unless 
it is in August in running time. The 
bear is the most singular animal that 
roams the forest. I think they breed 
only every other year, fori have killed 
quite a number, and never found one 



-9— 



that had any appearance of young ones 
aboat them while running with their 
cubs, and they never leave them until 
they are a year old, and the cubs will 
weigh from eighty to one hundred 
pounds ; and then they scatter, and each 
one takes his own course. 

The otter is a water animal and is 
larger than the coon ; lives on fish, 
clams, crabs and other things that he 
gathers out of the water. He is of a dark 
brown color, and is a very strong animal 
for his size. They have tremendous 
teeth. There is no one dog that can 
kill one of them. 

The beaver is a larger animal than 
the otter, and is a lighter color, and a 
very strong animal for its size. They 
have large teeth, about one inch broad, 
and very sharp, and strong in their 
jaws, and will cut down a tree in a lit- 
tle while. They will cut heaver Chips 
than a two-inch auger can. They will 
gnaw right round the tree until it falls. 
They cut their logs from four to five feet 
long, and then roll them into the water 
to build their dams. They dig ditches 
across the bottom of a stream, when 
they place their timbers in a position 
about half way between an upright and 
horizontal, or an angle of forty-five de- 
grees, with one end down in the ditch, 
and then carry in their dirt and gravel. 
I tore up one of their dams on 
my farm, across Tinker's Greek, 
and I found it built so then, 
and there were some logs as sound ap- 
parently as if they had not been there 
ten years— those that were covered up 
in the ground, one cherry log that was 
ten inches through. I split it up and 



found it perfectly sound, and I presume 
it lay there a century or more. The 
bank on each side of the stream is now 
three feet higher than the level of the 
ground. 

The woolynig is an animal about a 
size larger than the wildcat, not as long 
in the legs, but heavier and stockier 
built. They are of a darker color. They 
have large whiskers on each side 
of their heads. They look savBge, and 
are as savage as they look. They are 
the hardest customers that roam the 
forest, according to their size. The wild- 
cat is still smaller than the woolynig. 
He is about as large as a small sized dog 
but of longer legs in proportion to his 
body. He is very fond of the feathered 
flocks, such as geese, ducks, chickens, 
pigs, lambs and sometimes kills smallish 
deers, etc. 

There are two other animals worthy 
of note for their peculiarities. There is 
the opossum and porcupine. The por- 
cupine is a little larger than the coon, 
and stockier built and very clumsy. 
They have no defense but their quills. 
They are covered all over with these 
quills, and if anything approaches them 
they stick their heads down so that 
nothing can touch them without getting 
full ot their quills, which are as sharp 
as needles, and have beards on them. 
There is no getting rid of them. If a 
dog took hold of them, his mouth would 
look like a broom, and if they were not 
pulled out they would work through 
and come out on the opposite side in 
time, and kill him. 

The opossum has no defense to make. 
He lies down and pretends to be dead. 



-10- 



Yoa may kick him and knock him 
aronnd and he will not defend himself, 
bat lie curled ap and pretend to be dead. 
There is some peculiarity about them. 
They have a pocket in their belly or 
rather outside of it where they carry their 
young. I have seen as many as eight in 
one of these pockets at one time. 

FIRST EXECUTION IN THE COUNTY. 

The first judges after the organization 
of Portage county, in 1808, were Amzi 
Atwater, of Mantua, Samuel Forward, of 
Aurora, and Aaron Norton, of Hudson 
(afterwards of Middlebury, of the firm 
of Hart & Co ) The first county clerk 
was William Wetraore, of Stow town- 
ship ; and I think John Campbell, of 
Oampbellsport, was elected sheriff. The 
first court that was organized in the 
county was held at the dwelling house 
of Robert Eaton, about two miles east 
of the village of Ravenna ; and the first 
person executed in the county was 
Henry Aunghst, in November, 1816, for 
the willful murder of Epaphras Mat- 
thews, on the aOth of August, 1814. He 
was condemned upon circumstantial 
evidence. It was Asa K. Burroughs, as 
sheriff, who executed him. On the day 
of the execution he was led up on the 
scaffold by the sheriff, and Timothy 
Bigelow, of Palmyra, who was a Uni- 
versalist preacher, preached a short 
sermon on the scaffold, his text 
being "O, wretched man that I am, who 
shall deliver me from the body of this 
death?" It was the first Universalist 
sermon that I had ever heard preached, 
and I have never forgotten the text. 
Uuiversalism was looked upon in those 
days as being outside of the Christian 



churches, but Aunghst (or Unks) heard 
the sermon through, and then made a 
prayer in Dutch, and acknowledged his 
guilt of the crime a few minutes before 
he swung off. Matthews, the murdered 
man, I think was a son-in-law of a man 
living in Ravenna at the time, by the 
name of Fuller. Matthews was coming 
from the east with a one horse pedlar's 
wagon, and came through Pittsburg, 
and Aunghst (or Unks) fell in company 
with him there, and they came togeth- 
er to within a mile and a half of Raven- 
na, whan he killed Matthews, and car- 
ried him about ten rods into the woods, 
and unharnessed his horse and let him 
run, and then drew his wagon into the 
woods, came to the village and got din- 
ner at David Greer's, and then disap- 
peared, no one knowing where. In about 
ten days after, the murdered man was 
found by way of the crows and buzzards 
that had collected around his remains. 
When they found the body, the question 
was, how came he there? and who killed 
him? and where the murderer was, no 
man knew. 

Robert Eaton, who lived two miles 
east of Ravenna, and Lewis Ely, broth- 
er-in-law of John Campbell, of Camp- 
bellsport, were appointed to ferret out 
the perpetrator. 

They took the back track as they sup- 
posed, towards Pittsburg, and found at 
different places where two men had 
staid over night with a pedlar's wagon. 
They got some description of the men 
and went on to Pittsburg. There they 
hunted around and found that a man 
had been to work at a nail factory who 
bore the description that they had got 



-11- 



previoasly, and obtained his name, 
which was given as Hunks or Unks, 
but did not learn where he was. They 
obtained a complete description of him, 
and made a search, but got no trace of 
him, but ascertained that he formerly 
lived east of the mountains in Pennsyl- 
vania ; they came to a blacksmith shop, 
where a man had hired out who an- 
swered his description. 

They asked him many questions, and 
also asked him if he had not been work- 
ing at a nail factory in Pittsburg. He 
answered that he had been at work 
there. They then asked him if he did 
not go west from there with a,t, pedlar. 
He hesitated to answer that question, 
and exhibiting guile, they then charged 
him with the crime, which he partly ac- 
knowledged and they arrested him and 
brought him back to Ravenna and pat 
him in the jail. When court set he was 
asked if he had any counsel, and he re- 
plied that he had not. Benjamin Tap- 
pan and Elisha Whittlesey were as- 
signed by the court to defend him. He 
was kept in jail nearly two years before 
he got a trial. As there was a defect in 
the first indictment, a second indictment 
had to be returned in order to hold him. 
When he was tried he was found guilty 
of murder in the first degree, and exe- 
cuted as before mentioned. Unks was 
a large and musculo man ; I should 
think he was six feet and six or seven 
inches in height. 

HJSTORY OF FRANRLIM TOWNSHIP. 

The writer came into this county on 
the 1 0th day of May, 1804, then a vast, 
unbroken wilderness, filled with wild 
men and wild beasts. At this period 



there were forty Indians to every white 
man, and not a house in Franklin 
township. Stow township had not been 
run off into lots, and the solitary house 
in that district was, I believe, the only 
one between Hudson and Canton. 

Franklin township, which contains 
16,000 acres, was purchased by Aaron 
Olmsted, of Hartford, Conn., in the 
summer of 1798. I think I heard Am si 
Atwater, who helped to run the lines in 
1796-97, say that the purchase money 
paid was only 12}4 cents an acre. 

This township has been rather an un- 
lucky one. In the summer of 1807 the 
proprietor, Olmsted, and John Camp- 
bell, of Campbellsport, came here to 
find a location suitable for the county 
seat of Portage county. After canvass- 
ing thoroughly, they selected a rise of 
ground on land now owned by J. B. 
Stratton, a little north of the upper 
cemetery. Olmsted made arrangements 
with Campbell to use his influence to, 
secure the location here, when the locat- 
ing committee came on, and to say that 
he (Olmsted) would bear the expense of 
building the court house. He then re- 
turned home, was taken sick and died. 
He left a will bequeathing all the un- 
sold lands to his grandchildren, so 
when the locating committee came the 
land was not to be had. If it had not 
been for this circumstance, the county 
seat would undoubtedly have been lo- 
cated here and we would to-day be 
reaping the benefits thereof. The ad- 
vantages possessed by this township 
were, and now are, unequalled, and 
but for its misfortune, would have been 
far ahead of any place in this section. 



—12- 



This township was surveyed in 1803 
by Ezekiel Hoover and Ralph Buck) and, 
a brother ii- law of the late Zenas Kent. 
The first settler was John Haymaker, 
who came into the township in Decem- 
ber, 1805, and moved into a little house 
that the surveyors had built when sur- 
veying in 1803. Samuel Burnett came 
here from Warren, Trumbull county, in 
the spring of 1806, and commenced 
chopping and clearing land on lot 65, 
where John Reed now lives. 

We lived in the southeast corner of 
Hudson. We heard some timber fall- 
ing in a southeasterly direction and 
concluded that some one was chopping, 
and thought we would go down and see 
who it was ; but before we got started 
there came a man and a boy up through 
the woods to our place. The man said 
he heard timber falling in our direction 
and was anxious to know what it 
meant. He said he was not aware that 
there was any one in that part of the 
•ountry but was glad to find neighbors 
so near. He said that Judge Quinby, 
of Warren, was agent for the township, 
and had sent him to commence settling, 
with a promise of 80 acres of laud for 
making the first improvements. He in- 
tended to chop off a piece for a spring 
crop, put up a log cabin, and the next 
spring move out here. 

We helped him put up a log house 
and I think it was the first in the town- 
ship. He came with the expectation of 
getting the 80 acres promised him, but 
the proprietor died and he never got a 
title. He afterwards moved to Austin- 
burgh, Trumbull county, and died 
there. 



In the fall of 1806 George Haymaker 
and his father, Jacob Haymaker, came 
into town and built a house on the west 
side of the river, near where Mr. Kent's ^ 
new mill now stands. I think Frederick 
Haymaker came the next spring and 
bought 80 acres of laud that John Tuck- 
er had contracted for. It included most 
of the upper village. He built a house 
on the east side of the river, where the 
road nsed to cross. James D. Haymaker 
was born in 1809, and his mother died 
soon after. John and George commeuced 
building a mill where Kent's mill now 
stands, in the summer of 1807, and got 
it running in the fall of 1808. The mill 
stones were common hardheads, worked 
out by Bradford Kellogg, of Hudson. 
The mill was not finished when tliey 
commenced running. They put op 
crotches and laid poles across as a tem- 
porary covering for the hopper, and a 
little bolt that was turned by hand, sift- 
ing out the coarsest of the bran. An- 
drew Kelso was the millwright. They 
kept it running until 1811, when they 
sold to Jacob Reed, of Rootstown, who 
roofed the building. When Reed re- 
paired the building he 'Employed a mill- 
wright from Mahoning county, whose 
name was Powers. He was genteel 
looking and full of manners but he 
soon found out that it would not do to 
wait for manners so much. Provisions 
were scarce and hard to get, and when 
meal time came every one pitched in 
and helped himself. One day my 
brother in-law, George Nighman, killed 
a deer and brought it in. A good mess 
of it was cooked. The call was given ; 
all came with a quick step, sat down 



-13- 



and began to help themselves. It vas 
not long before the n illwright got 
choked, became blaek in the face, and 
got tip gagging and Btrangling as if for 
dear life. The rest of the company set 
to help him bj pounding him on the 



back, and some got hold of his throat which they let oat to the neighbors lo 



Reed kept the mill mnning until 1820, 
when he sold out to William Price and 
George DePeyster. They made quite an 
improvement on the mill. 

In 1825 or '26 they erected a hemp 
mill, sent to Kentucky for hemp seed. 



Cue of iHe Pioneers. 




ZEN AS KENT, 

Who Pure based Nearly Six Handred Acres of Land in Franklin Township in J832. He 
Was bom July J2, 1786, and Died Oct. 4, 1865. 



and trisd to force the meat up, but all 
in vain. They began to think they were 
going to lose their millwright. Finally, 
as a last resort, they got him out of 
doors on a big stump, and had him 
;omp from it. The third jump brought 
np tbe meat, and saved the man. 



raise hemp for the mill. I took come 
and raised a big crop, which th(»ir mill 
broke and dressed, but it did not pay 
well. After two or three years, they 
quit the business, with quite a loss. In 
1827 they built a forge and put np a trip 
hammer, which they got in operation 



—14— 



in 1838 or '39, for the purpose of mann- 
faotnring scythes, axe? and forks. In 
February, 1831, William Price went to 
New Lisbon to get a large grindstone. 
On his way home with it the wagon np- 
aet, throwing the stone on him and kill* 
ing him. 

In March, 1883, there came a freshet, 
which swept the whole thing down the 
rirer, mill and all. In May of the same 
year Zenas Kent and David Ladd 
boDght the mill site and built the mill 
which is now owned by H. A. and M. 
Kent. 

Portage county was organized in the 
summer of 1808 and Cuyahoga in 1810. 
Previous to that time Trumbull county 
covered the whole Western Reserve. 

The township of Franklin was organ- 
ized and a meeting held for the election 
of township officers in 1815. The votes 
all told numbered twelve. The first of- 
ficers elected were Amasa Hamlin, 
Elisha Stevens, George Haymaker, trus- 
tees ; John Haymaker, justice of the 
peace, and Hubbard Hurlbut, township 
clerk. Jacob Reed and John Tucker 
were judges of the election. The names 
of the voters were Amasa Hamlin, 
Elisha Stevens, George Haymaker, 
John Haymaker, David Lilly, Hubbard 
Hurlburt, Jacob Reed, Alexander 
Stewart, Adam Nighman, William Wil- 
liams, Christian Caokler, Sr , and An- 
drew Kelso. This constituted the voting 
population of 1815, all of whom have 
gone to "that land from whence no 
traveler returns." 

The first lawsuit in the place was be- 
tween Christian Oackler, Sr., and 
David Lilly. They both lived near 



Sandy Lake, north of Earlville. Lilly 
had a piece of oats adjoining the lake, 
which was not fenced on the lake side. 
The said Cackler's geese got into ths 
oats, whereupon Lilly killed a number 
of them. He claimed there was no law 
for geese. Oackler claimed that geese 
were property, and he must pay for 
them. He refused. A lawsuit ensued 
before Esquire Haymaker. Lilly stood 
out for some time, but finally settled by 
paying two shillings a head and costs. 

The first death in the township was 
that of Eve Haymaker in October, 1810. 
She was the wife of Jacob Haymaker 
and the mother of John, George and 
Frederick Haymaker. Jacob, the fath- 
er, died in 1819; John died in 1837: 
George, in 1838, and Frederick, in 
Trumbull county in 1851. 

In August, 1814, Christian Oackler, 
Jr. , was married to Theresa Nighman, 
it being the first wedding in the town- 
ship. Frederick Caris, Esq , of Roots- 
town, officiated. 

The first school taught in the town- 
wship as by Alphonso Lamphier, who 
now resides in Brimfield. It was taught 
in the winter of 1815 16, in a log house 
built by Mr. Rue, in 1811. 

The first sermon preached in the 
township was in that house, by Father 
Shewell, of Rootstown. 

In the summer of 1817, a school house 
was built by the inhabitants on the east 
side of the river, near where Dr, E. W. 
Crain used to live. It was used as a 
school and meeting house by all parties 
and sects for some time, until a man by 
the name of Elliott came along and 
presched a sermon. He was a very smart 



—15- 



man and well edacated. I thiak he was 
a Scotclimaa by birth, and had been 
edacated for a Boniaa Catholic priest. 
All liked his preaching except Deacon 
Andrews, and to sound him a little 
closer, he gave him a text to preach 
from when he came again. It was the 
8bh chapter of Romans and a part of the 
9th. It was soon noised about that 
Deacon Andrews had given Elliott a 
text to preach from, and there was a 
large collection to hear him. He com- 
menced to explain his text, when the 
Deacon arose and dispated him. Elliott 
told him if he woald sit down till he 
got through, he would answer any 
question he might aSk, so the Deacon 
sat down again. After meeting he start* 
ed off without asking any questions. 
The next Sabbath they collected as 
usual, but the hoase was locked. Th^y 
sent for the Deacon or the key. He 
would not go or let the key go. He said 
he would not have such damnable 
preaching m the house of God. He had 
been the leading deacon previous to that 
time, and it created a feeling that was 
not soon forgotten. It became a fearful 
warfare, but finally the Deacon com- 
promised by paying back aU that the 
others had paid towards building the 
house. 

This town was noted for its pious 
streaks in early days. In 1825, I think, 
there was a man by the name of Brown, 
who worked in Price and DePeyster's 
^mill. He went one Sunday on the east 
side of the river, near Oherry Hill. It 
was in the fall of the year, when chest- 
nuts were ripe, and he went to picking 
them up. One Loomis Andrews— a son 



of the Deacon before mentioned— saw 
him, and entered complaint for Sabbath- 
breaking. A summons was issued and 
Brown was brought before the court, 
which could do no less than fine him 
$1.00 and costs. It was generally sup- 
posed that young Loomis was out in the 
woods for the purpose of getting chest- 
nuts himself. 

The first bridge across the Cuyahoga 
river was built in this township, by the 
people of Hudson and Bavenna, in 1808. 
Its location was a short distance above 
the present covered bridge, and about 
ten feet below the place where it is said 
Captain Brady made his famous leap, 
about the year 1780. I crossed it the 
10th day of May, 1804. It was the. first 
east and west road traveled in this sec- 
tion of the country. Where the road 
crossed the river it was a dismal looking 
place indeed The distance across the 
points of shelving rocks was twenty-one 
feet, and the tops of the hemlocks 
reached across from either side and 
mingled together. It was about twenty- 
five feet down to the water. The bridge 
was about ten feet below where it is 
said Captain Brady made his famous 
leap when pursued by the Indians in 
1780. There was a dish in the rock on 
the east side, so that the place where he 
alighted was about three feet lower 
than the side from which ha leaped. 

The oldest log house now in the town- 
ship was built in 1815, by Christian 
Cackler, Sr. It stands a little east of 
Earlville Station, and was recently oc- 
cupied by Benjamin Frazier. 

The first mill in the township was 
built m 1814, by Elisha Stephens, near 



-16— 



where the Lane foundry now stands. 

Joshua Woodard moved into the town- 
ship in 1818, and commenced building 
in copartnership with Frederick Hay- 
maker, then living at Beaver, Pa. They 
built a woolen factory, dye-house, turn- 
ing lathes, cabinet shop and a number 
of private dwelling houses, also the 
house where Dr. Dewey now lives, the 
latter as a hotel. They continued a 
thriving business until about 1825, when 
they dissolved partnership— Haymaker 
taking the mill property. 

In 1822, Joshua Woodard, Benjamin 
P. Hopkins and David Ladd formed a 
copartnership. They built a glass fac- 
tory near where the upper mill now 
stands, several private dwellings and 
the old tannery on the east side of the 
river, near the upper bridge, first oper- 
ated by Joseph Arnold. They also built 
a woolen factory, saw mill and ashery, 
one mile east of the village, on land now 
owned by the heirs of Cornelius Wald- 
ron, on Breakneck Creek. They also 
built a woolen factory and oil mill in 
the lower village, and started a dry 
goods store in the basement of G. B. 
DePeyster's house, now occupied by B. 
O. Earl. They did a thriving business 
until about 1881, when they dissolved 
partnership and divided their property. 

In the year 1824, James Edmunds, 
Henry Parks and brother, built a glass- 
factory on the land now owned by 
Christian Cackler. From 1821 to 1831, 
William H. Price and George B, De- 
Peyster had in operation, in the lower 
village, a grist mill, saw mill, forge and 
trip hammer, l^emp factory and dry 
goods store, George B. DePeyster was 



the first postmaster in the place. He 
used to keep the letters in a cigar box. 

In 1882, Zenas Kent and David Ladd 
bought the Price and DePeyster proper- 
ty for $7,000, consisting of 300 acres of 
land. In 1833 or '34 Zenas Kent bought 
out Ladd'e interest. Ladd went to 
Maumee and died soon after. 

In 1831 or '32, Pomeroy and Rhodes 
bought Frederick Haymaker's property, 
consisting of one hundred acres of land, 
and a good water power in the upper 
village. They built a grist mill, woolen 
factory, turning lathe, cabinet shop, etc. 
In 3 836 they sold ont to the Franklin 
L^nd Company, a company organized 
about that time. The members of the 
company were Augustus Baldwin and 
John B. Clark, of Hudson ; Norman C. 
Baldwin, of Cleveland ; George Kirk- 
ham, of Clevelaud, and many other 
prominent men. Previous to their pur- 
chase of Pomeroy & Rhodes, the Land 
Comp any bought of Zenas Kent abcut 
300 acres of land with water powers, 
for $75,000. Paid about |25,000 in all, 
then bought out Pomeroy & Rhodes for 
$40,000, paid $30,000, went into h bank- 
ing business, run the establishment 
about two years, compromised with 
their creditors, destroyed the water 
power by giving it to the Pennsylvania 
& Ohio Canal Co., and then failed. 

Kent, Pomeroy & Rhodes took back 
their property. Thus ended one of the 
greatest swindles that was ever per- 
petrated on any community. Had they 
left the water power alone, all would 
have been well. 

In the summet of 1823, J. C Fair- 
childs bought out Woodard & Hay- 



—17— 



maker's tannery, and built the first 
brick faoase in town. It was the small 
building south of John Thompson's 
residence, on the west side of the river. 
I think he carried on the tannery for a 
number of years. 

About that time another pious streak 
came over some of our people. A new 
minister by the name of Sheldon locat- 
ed in town. He built the large, two- 
story house now occupied by Luther H. 
Parmelee. He had great inflaence over 
some of the people. J. G. Fairchilds be- 



summoned to appear before a justice of 
the peace, and answer for their Sabbath 
breaking, by paying one dollar and 
costs. The violaters were Jacob Stough 
and Sylvester Babcock, well known 
citizens of Ravenna. It created so much 
of a sensation that the people told 
Stough that if he would cowhide Rus- 
sell they would foot the bill. Some time 
after, Russell went to Ravenna, and 
had some business in the court house. 
Stough saw him, got a cowhide, and 
stationed himself where he could see 



^M^ 




■Bj?^dy le.^p s/^wse* 



came a deacon, and a man by the name 
of William Russell studied with Sheldon 
for the ministry. He 4)oured in the oil 
and wine so plentifully that they be- 
came nearly intoxicated with it. 

One Saturday some teams went through 
this place on their way to Old Portage, 
after goods for Zenas Ken^, of Raven- 
na, and did not get back until Sunday. 
As they came through they were closely 
watched. The next day, on complaint 
of Fairchilds and Russell, they were 



Bradx Leap Bridg'e as it 
Appears in 1904* 



Russell when he came out. He did not 
make his appearance until about dark, 
when Stough stepped up behind him 
and began to apply the cowhide, and 
kept it up briskly clear across the street. 
Russell attempted to escape by running 
into the tavern kept by Papa Carter, 
but the door would not open readily, 
and Stough belabored him thoroughly. 
When they came out to find the per- 
petrator he was not to be found. I 
think it was not positively known who 
did it, except by a few. It was said that 
Russell bad on Priest Shelden's cloak. 



—18- 



which was cut up considerably by the 
cowhide. The same fall the same parties 
made complaint against two men for 
driving cattle on Sunday. They were 
fined but in return sued Bnssell and 
Fairchild for damages sustained by 
their delay, and obtained a judgment 
against them. 

Mr. Jesse Farnham and Oharles Doug- 
las, from Westfield, Mass., became the 
proprietors of the township in 1817. 
Lyman Farnham, St., gon of Jesse 
Farnham, came here in the spring of 
1818, and selected a farm and went to 
clearing it. In falling the timber one 
tree lodged upon another, and in getting 
it down he was struck by a limb and 
killed. 

Jesse Farnham died in 1886. David 
Day, a son-in-law of Farnham, died in 
1837. Mr. Nathaniel Packard, of Brim- 
field, was bitten by a mad dog in the 
spring of 1837. In six weeks he was at- 
tacked with hydrophobia and for about 
three days suffered the most excruciat- 
ing agony. His spasms came every half 
hour and lasted fifteen or twenty min- 
utes. Mr. Sylvester Huggins was with 
him the night he died. 

THE FIRST SETTLERS. 

I think it may not be amiss to give a 
record of the names, ages and deaths of 
the pioneer settlers, who came in early 
days, and endured the hardships and 
privations necessary in making the first 
settlements : 

Alexander Stewart settled on lot 79 in 
1808 ; he died March 21, 1845, aged 62 
years ; his wife, Catherine Stewart, died 
April 2nd of the same year, aged 6S 
years. They had no children. Christian 



Oackler, Sr.,icamje into Hudson in 1804 ; 
lived there till 181o, when he moved 
into this town; he died Sept. 28, 
1830, aged 74 years. His wife, Julia 
Ann Cackler, died Nov. 2, 1831, aged 79 
years. Adam Nighman settled here in 
1807 ; died June 12, 1835, aged 71 years. 
His wife, Elizabeth, died August 5, 
1840, aged 68 years. William Stewart, 
one of the pioneers, died June 4, 1834 ; 
his wife, Susannah, died June 4, 1840, 
aged 42 years. She was the mother of 
Maria Stewart, Marvin Kent's wife, 
and others. Sally Haymaker, wife of 
John Haymaker, was the first white 
woman that settled in the town. She 
came here in 1805, In 1807 she gave 
birth to John F. Haymaker, the first 
white child born in the township. She 
lived in the township 64 years, and 
died June 15, 1869, at the advanced age 
of 94 years. Elijah Rockwell came in 
1822, and died March 30, 1837, aged 42 
years. Aaron Ferry; another pioneer, 
died January 30, 1860; his wife, Eliza- 
beth, died October 26, 1842. aged 47 
years. William Williams came in 1809, 
and died March 16, 1822, aged 60 years. 
Hubbard Hurlburt, St., came in 1815; 
died May 24, 1857, aged 84 years. Wil- 
liam Pomeroy settled in 1816. George, 
DePeyster died February 12, 1844, aged 
58 years. General Joshua Woodard died 
December 3, 1864, aged 73 years. An- 
drew Kelso came in 1807, and died Aug. 
9, 1842, aged 61 years. Theresa, wife of 
Christian Cackler, Jr. , came with her 
parents in 1807, and died April 23, 1869. 
Such were some of the earliest settlers. 
All honor to their names. I thought it 
but a just tribute to their memory to 



—19— 



present their names in this connection, 
that the rising fteneration may know to 
whom they are indebted for many of 
the blessings they enjoy. They came 
here when the country was an unbrok- 
en wilderness, toiled and endured suf- 
ferings and hardships, and we are now 
enjoying the fruits of that toil. They 
have gone, all gone to the "undiscov- 



ing a piece of cloth, and on her return 
it became so dark that she passed the 
path without noticing it. She kept ©n 
until about where Seneca Green now 
lives. Even at that time it was still a 
wilderness, and on a dark night it was 
indeed dismal. She became frightened, 
and not knowing where she was, or 
which way to go, she sat down near a 



First WHite CHild Born in Franklin 
TownsKip. 




JOHN FRANKLIN HAYMAKER. 
Bom in 1807, Died in 1900. 



ered country from whose bourne no 
traveler returns." May we cherish their 
memory. 

Dudley Williams and wife came into 
the township in 1830, and took up the 
piece of land now owned by H. T. 
Lake, near Frederick Dewey's farm; he 
built his house some distance from the 
road and a path leading through the 
woods to the house. One day Mrs. Wil- 
liams went to town to see about weav- 



large tree and remained there several 
hours ; hearing strange noises, and what 
appeared to be footsteps approaching 
her, she became much alarmed and fled 
whither she knew not, but she was de- 
termined to escape that dismal place. 
She wandered through the darkness and 
rain till daylight, when she found that 
she had been wandering from home in- 
stead of toward it. It was some time 
before she reached her home, and glad 



—20— 



enough she was to find it. This was in 
the fall of 1822. She died May 9, 1842, 
aged 63 years. Rebecca Keed, wife of 
John Beed, came here at an early day, 
and died June 22, 1845, aged 45 years. 

In 1821, William Pomeroy, before 
mentioned, came into town. In 1886-37 
he built a brick church on the feast side 
of the river for the Presbyterian Society. 
In 1840 the Apostle Avery came alouK 
and commenced a series of sermons, 
which continued three weeks or more. 
During these meetings a great many of 
the deacons and others, who verily 
thought they had been doing "God's ser- 
vice" before began to be alarmed for their 
safety, and ask "what shall we do to be 
saved?" Under the warning influence 
their necks began to bend and their 
knees shake and knock together, like 
Belshazzar's of old. Avery told them to 
confess their sins and sin no more 
There were a great many bad acts con- 
fessed in those meetings that were un- 
locked for from the source from which 
they came. Some confessed that they 
had not dealt fairly with their neigh- 
bors, and had cheated them ; others con- 
fessed that they had given way to their 
passions so much that they feared they 
had committed the "unpardonable sin." 
There were a great many who verily 
believed that Avery was a man sent of 
God to preach "peace on earth and good 
will to man." But, be that as it may, I 
believe he was a smart man, especially 
in the manner of collecting money ; for 
it is said, and I believe truly, that he 
carried away with him from this town 
three hundred dollars. 



MR. CACKLER'S biography. 

In this connection it will not, perhaps, 
be amiss to give a short history of my 
early life, together with the habits and 
customs of the Indians, and the wild 
animals that infested this country in its 
wild state. 

I was born in Washington county, 
Pennsylvania, June, 1791. In 1795 I 
moved to Wheeling Creek, Green coun- 
ty, Pa., about twenty miles from 
Wheeling, Virginia. The place then 
went by the name of Indian Wheeling, 
owing to its being a great hunting re- 
sort. In the spring of 1804, together 
with my father and eldest brother, I 
came to Ohio. We brought with us, one 
horse, one yoke of oxen, and what we 
could carry on the horse. We crossed 
the Ohio River at Steubenville, passing 
through Yellow Creek, Deerfield, where 
there were a few families living at that 
time, and Ravenna, where there were 
also several families by the name of 
Wright. At that time there was a road 
marked out to Hudson, and some of the 
underbrush cut. We passed on to Hud- 
son, where we found our stopping place. 
Father bought half of lot No. 10 in the 
south-east corner of the township. On 
selecting our site we relieved our horse, 
cut four forks and drove them into the 
ground, upon which we laid poles and 
covered the sides and top with bark, 
also constructed a bark floor. Our beds 
filled with leaves and blankets spread, 
we were ready for operation. We com- 
menced by clearing land for spring 
crops. It was then the 10th of May, 
1804. We got in about three acres of 
corn, t^nd cleared off a piece in time to 



—21— 



SOW wheat. Provisions were hard to 
get and were obtained by working for 
neighbors. We found out that Mr. 
Abram Thompson, of Hudson, had pork 
which he wished to exchange for work, 
so father sent my brother and myself 
up there to work for three and a half 
pounds of pork per day. Abram's fath- 
er, a deacon of the church, lived with 
him. He would stand and keep us at 
work every minute of the time, and 
when meal time came would always ask 
a blessing. He was very expert in the 
use of the knife and fork, and when he 
was satisfied he seemed to think the 
rest ought to be, and would lay down 
his table cutlery and offer thanks for 
what he had eaten, and thon leave the 
table. As boys, we were rather bash- 
ful, and of course would follow suit, 
whether we had eaten half enough or 
not. We stood it two days, when we 
took our fourteen pounds of pork and 
went home. "We told father that we 
could not work in that way— that we 
did not get enough to eat. He said he 
would go up next day, and I went with 
him. When we arrived they had eaten 
breakfast and we went to work without 
any, but when noon came we were pre- 
pared for a hearty meal. We went in 
and seated ourselves about the table ; 
the deacon asked the blessing and then 
went to work as usual. When he had 
-finished he dropped his knife and 
fork and returned thanks, and then left 
the table. My father said to the deacon, 
"Your prayers are good, but Abram's 
pork is a d— d sight better ; prayers will 
not strengthen a man to roll up logs," 
and went on eating again. The old 



deacon never tried to choke him off with 
his "thankfulness" after that. In Sep- 
tember my father and brother went 
back after the family, and left me in 
care of the shanty until they returned. 
I was then only twelve years of age. 
They left for my use a small loaf of 
bread, an old rifle that carried an ounce 
ball, and some powder and bullets, that 
I might kill squirrels for meat. They 
thought they wbuld be back in three 
weeks. It was a trying time for me. I 
could get along very well through the 
day, but when night came I was lone- 
some indeed. I would build a big fire 
and roll myself up in my blankets so 
that I could not hear anything, and 
there remain until morning. I managed 
so about two weeks. My loaf began to 
get very small, and I had to make my 
allowance still smaller to make it hold 
out. The three weeks expired and no- 
body came. The fourth week wore 
slowly away, and no one came. My 
bread was gone and I had to live ou 
squirrels alone. The fifth week expired 
and still I was alone, with no bread and 
no bullets. What to do I did not know. 
It is said that "necessity is the mother 
of invention." There was a necessity 
for my doing something, so I went down 
to the brook and picked up small stones, 
which I. used in place of bullets— using 
a handful for a charge. I managed to 
kill some squirrels in this way, but 
many were only crippled and would get 
away. I stayed there till the sixth week 
began, when one afternoon a severe 
thunder storm came up. I fell asleep 
and when I awoke it was getting dark. 
I tried to start a fire but everything was 



—22- 



80 wet that I coald not kindle it. As I 
sat there tinkering with my fire, all at 
once there came a screaming of wolves 
a little way oflf. I soon left my fireplace 
and rolled myself up in my blankets, 
partly sitting up, with my gun by my 
side, loaded with gravel stones. I 
thought that if they attempted to come 
in, I would give them the contents. 
But they did not attempt it. I sat there 
until morning, when I left the old 
shanty to take care of itself, and went 
over to where Harry O'Brien lived, 
about three miles distant, and remained 
until our family came back, which was 
not long. 

The corn that we planted was all de- 
stroyed by squirrels, blackbirds, coons 
and porcupines, before it was large 
enough to roast ; not an ear came to ma- 
turity. 

In 1807 I was bound out to remain un- 
til twenty-one, that I might help earn 
provisions for the family. The war of 
1812 having broken out about the time I 
finished my servitude, I enlisted on the 
a2nd day of August, 1812, and remained 
in the service till Perry's victory, on 
the 10th of September, 1818, a period of 
one year and twelve days. I was mar- 
ried soon after my return, and lived on 
Darrow street during the following 
winter. In the spring of 1815 I cut my 
foot so badly that I did but very little 
work that summer. 

Ou the first day of January, 1816, we 
moved to the place where I now live. 
In moving, our furniture proved no 
inconvenience ; my wife had a bed, I 
had an axe. I added to this, by purchase 
of Zenus Kent, three white cups and 



saucers, costing seventy-five cants, three 
knives and forks, and a wooden pail. 
These were the first things I ever pur- 
chased. The woman who lived with us 
gave three wooden plates, and a kettle 
to cook our victuals in My wife's fath- 
er also gave us a table, which completed 
our "set out." I run in debt for fifty 
acres of land, at |3.50 per acre, a deed 
of which I did not get for seventeen 
years, and the interest was therefore 
greater than the principal. I did not 
have a hoof on the place for three years. 
I went to clearing my land by cutting 
out the small timber, which, together 
with the old logs, I burned, after which 
I girdled the standing timber, and split 
my rails. I had no team to haul them 
with, so I backed them to the line of 
my fences. Having thus cleared and 
fenced my farm, I got Alexander Stew- 
art to do my plowing. I planted corn 
and worked it entirely with the hoe. 
The birds and animals were so numer- 
ous that it required constant vigilance to 
save any of it. It was a constant war- 
fare, aud at best I could get but the 
smallest half. It was trying to a man's 
patience and courage to work that way. 
We depended on the woods for our 
meats and got our bread wherever we 
could. 

We were married in 1814 and lived 
and toiled together fifty-five years. 
After my wife's death, I made a will 
and the estimated value of our property 
was $80,000. We had twelve children, 
all of whom grew up to be men and 
women save one — he died when two 
years old. There are now (in 1870) 
eight of them living. 



-23- 



Now for a small bear story. In the 
sammer of 1817 I bought two hogs, 
which we watched closely most of the 
time, in order to prevent their being de- 
Toured by bears. One day I was away 
from home and the hogs had the liberty 
to stray farther away from home than 
usual. My wife heard them coming as 
if some one was after them, and on look- 
ing out, saw a bear close to their heels, 
doing his best to catch them. They 
came into the dooryard, closely followed 
by the bear, and my wife ran out and 
hallooed at them as loud as she could 
(she could rival an Indian) , but the 
bear did not abandon his chase. It so 
happened that one of my neighbor's 
hogs got in with mine, and the bear 
picked him up and carried him off — tbe 
porker kicking and squealing with a 
vengeance. He did not seem to like the 
noise made by my wife ; but he did like 
the pork. He carried the hog about 
fifty rods, when he laid it down and 
killed it and then dragged it into a 
swamp and ate what he wanted. When 
I came home I took my gun and fol- 
lowed after, but only found the remains 
of his meal. 

The early history of the settlement of 
Franklin township might be extended, 
but I will content myself with a few 
closing remarks. 

Timothy Wallace, one of the first set- 
tlers, died January 15, 1845. aged 61 
years. His wife, Elizabeth, died August 
17, 1847, aged 50 years. Deborah Kelso, 
wife of Andrew Kelso, died February 
19, 1845, aged 59 years. Sally, wife of 
Aaron Auter, and sister of George and 
John Haymaker' died October 3, 1839, 



aged 56 years. 

In February, 1836, Cleveland men and 
others purchased Zenas Kent's interest 
in Franklin Mills, consisting of all the 
lower water power and grist mill, to- 
gether with about 300 acres of land in 
and adjoining the village, for the sum 
of $75,000. They organized under the 
name of "Franklin Land Oompany," 
and commenced improving said proper- 
ty by laying out new roads, buildings, 
etc. In 1837 they petitioned the Legis- 
lature for a charter under the name of 
the "Franklin Silk and Manufacturing 
Oompany." They were granted the 
charter and soon after commenced 
"wild cat" banking, with Zenas Kent 
as president, and Augustus Baldwin, 
cashier. They issued bills and oon- 
tiaued banking until the time when all 
"vnld cats" were declared illegal, when 
they suspended and collected their bills. 
They redeemed every dollar presented. 

In 1837 said company purchased of 
Pomeroy & Rhodes what was called the 
upper water power for $40,000, and con- 
solidated the two by building the pres- 
ent stone dam. The company paid 
Pomeroy & Uhodes the purchase money 
and also paid Zenas Kent $33,000, and 
expended $19,000 by way of building 
bridges, roads, etc. 

The financial crisis of 1837-8 com- 
pelled the company to give the land up 
to Zenas Kent, and individuals of the 
company, whose notes he held, com- 
promised with him as best they could. 

In 1837 quite a number of the inhabi- 
tants embarked in the mulberry specu- 
lation, with a view to propagating the 
tree and manufacturing silk. The ex- 



-24— 



citement ran high for a year or two, 
then the bubble burst. Those who in- 
Teated lost all they put in. Barber 
Glark and perhaps one or two others 
raised cocoons and engaged in the man- 



between Daniel Diver and the Indians 
is set forth, which, as regards the abuse 
offered to the Indians, is not true. I 
was acquainted with the whole transac- 
tion, and with Mohawk, who shot Div- 



Was One of tHe Pioneers. 




WARREN BURT. 
Mr. Burt came to this township in J 82 J, his father, Martin Burt, buying 600 acres of 
timber bnd in the township at $5 per acre. Martin Burt died in J847. Warren Burt 
died in {902, aged almost 96 years. 



ufacture of silk for a year or two. 

THE SHOOTING OF DANIEL DIVER, IN 1806. 

I have seen in a book of Mr. Bierce's, 
in Summit county, where the diflficulty 



er. He was the son of the Chief Seneca. 
The Chief was a large, muscular man, a 
little short of six feet, straight, with a 
stern look, and a keen, black eye. His 



—25— 



word was law in his tribe; what he 
said mast be done. He did not allow 
his tribe to promise anything aad not 
' make it good. Honor was their law, 
and you might be sore of their promises, 
if they lived, for they hated lying. If 
you told them a lie they never forgot it. 
The Seneca Chief had seven children, 
four sons and three daughters. There 
were three in the family — John Bigson, 
John Amur and John Mohawk. His sons- 
in-law were George Wilson, Nickahaw 
and Wobmung. Wobmung was as 
smart a fellow as you would see in a 
thousand. You would think his big 
eyes would look through a man and see 
all his faults. If he had been educated 
he would have been equal to any white 
man. Nickshaw traded off his pony 
with Diver for an old horse. Diver had 
given them whisky, which made them 
"cocknsa," as they say when they get 
too much. Nickshaw went off with his 
horse, and in about three days brought 
him back, saying he was no good for 
Indian, because he could not eat sticks ; 
but he was good for white man. Diver 
would not trade back, and the Indians 
got mad. They said Diver had cheated 
them. Nickshaw left the old horse, 
went away, and agreed with Mohawk 
to shoot Diver. Three or four of the 
Indians came there and asked for 
whisky. Mohawk did not come in to 
.drink the whisky with them. When 
they went out they gave a whoop, 
jumped on their ponies and away they 
went. Diver thought thiS a little 
strange and put his head out of the door, 
when Mohawk fired at him, mounted 
his pony and rode away. The shot took 



out botlj of his eyes, aad he fell back on 
the floor. He was not killed, but lived 
at Deerfield at least thirty years after 
this. 

The Indian camp was about three 
miles away. The Seneca Chief and his 
family moved there in the fall, and the 
greatest friendship existed with the 
whites until this horse trade. Mohawk 
thought he had killed Dive% and es- 
caped. The neighbors rallied under 
Captain Rogers, and took after the In- 
dians. They went to their camp, and 
none were there, but they followed their 
trail along the great Indian road, from 
the Ohio River to Sandusky. It crossed 
the Cuyahoga River at "Standing 
Stone," near Franklin Mills (now 
Kent), and the center road south of 
Hadsou about a mile, thence across the 
Cuyahoga River near Peninsula in Bos- 
ton. My father then lived in the south- 
east part of Hudson. The trail was 
about sixty rods from our house, and we 
had a path to the trail. Rogers and his 
men followed the Indians in the night. 

It was about the last of December, 
1806, and the snow was about four 
inches deep. The night was very cold, 
and the moon was near the full, and 
shining. They came to our house about 
one o'clock in the morning, some of 
them nearly frozen, and about half of 
them stayed there. Rogers got my fath- 
er, my eldest brother and my brother- 
in-law. Williams, to go with them. 
They went to Hudson, got a new re- 
cruit, and followed on to near the west 
part of Richfield. Here the Indians had 
stopped, built a fire, stacked their arms, 
tied their ponies and lain down with 



-26- 



their feet to the fire. Most of them had 
pulled off their moccasins. When Rog- 
ers and his men saw the fire they scat- 
tered and surrounded the Indians, some 
of whom were in a doze, and some 
asleep. As they were closing up Kick- 
shaw and Mohawk sprang up and ran 
off barefooted. They closed in on the 
rest, and, it beginning to be light, Rog- 
ers wanted somebody to go after Nick- 
shaw, and George Darrow, of Hudson, 
and Jonathan Williams, my brother-in- 
law, volunteered to go. They said the 
Indians' feet began to bleed before they 
got a mile, when they sat down on a 
log, tied pieces of their blankets around 
their feet and then separated. Darrow 
and Williams followed one of them, 
who proved to be Nickshaw, whom they 
overtook at about three miles. He 
looked back, and, seeing them, gave a 
whoop and increased his speed, and 
they after him like hounds after a fox 
In about a mile they overtook him and 
asked him to come back, but he would 
not. Darrow said he thought he would 
clinch him, but when he made the at- 
tempt Nickshaw would put his hand 
under his blanket as though he had a 
knife. Dari'ow thought he would get a 
club and knock him down, but Mr. In- 
dian could get a club and use it too. 
They got out of patience, and Williams 
fired his gun over Nickshaw 's head to 
let him know what was coming if he 
did not yield. This did not make any 
impression, and Williams loaded up and 
popped him over. He fell on his face 
and gave up the ghost. They threw 
him under a log, covered him with 
brush and old chunks, and came back 



to Hudson. Heman Oviatt, David Hud- 
son and Owen Brown mounted their 
horses, took the trail and found the 
dead Indian. They got out a State war- 
rant against Darrow and Williams for 
murder. 

All the Reserve was then in Trumbull 
coanty, the county seat at Warren. 
When they got there to be tried for 
their necks, they refused to go into the 
little log jail till the court could be or- 
ganized, and they had some fuss about 
it. Finally some person said they 
should be on hand at the tria]. When 
the court was ready they came forward, 
and the witnesses were called. Oviatt, 
Hudson and Brown swore they followed 
the tracks of Darrow and Williams, and 
found where they had shot the Indian. 
I think J. D. Webb, ot Warren, was 
counsel for them. He muddled the 
witnesses till they could not tell how 
the Indian came to his death. Darrow 
was cleared and brought as a witness 
against Williams. He swore there was 
a controversy with the Indian in order 
to make a prisoner of him ; he heard the 
crack of a gun and saw the Indian fall, 
but could not tell where it came from. 
Finally, the matter was quashed. There 
was plenty of whisky and a hoe-down 
that night. A collection was made for 
Williams of five dollars for killing the 
Indian. 

The Chief and his family were 
brought to Hudson and discharged. 
They were not abused, but went to 
their old camp In Streetsboro, which 
was his headquarters. It was on Samuel 
Olin's place, near the river. He lived 
there till the summer of 1813. He was 



-27- 



a man of great intelleet and firmness, 
and had always been a friend of oar 
goyernment. He was perfectly honest, 
and when friendly a good friend ; bat 
lie to him and he woald never forget it. 
He believed in being honest, and trained 
his people so. 

THE GREAT STRBETSBORO HUNT OF 1819. 

The township of Streetsboro was not 
settled for many years after those 



less our eyes were on it most of the 
time. The settlers in the townships 
aroand Streetsboro— Hudson on the 
west, Franklin on the soath and Aaron 
on the north — determined to have a big 
drive, surround the township and kill 
off the wild animals. A committee was 
appointed to arrange matters, who 
marked off thirty or forty acres a little 
south of the center, where the old saw- 







Standing R,ock. 



In the old-time days it was know^n among the pioneers and the Red men as Standing 

Stone. 



\ 



aroand it. It was all owned by Titus 
Street, from whom it was named, and 
who drew it as a member of the Oon- 
necticnt Land Company in 1798, con- 
taining 16,000 acres, being No. 4 in the 
ninth range. It was a famous place for 
bears', wolves, wild cats, wooly nigs, 
deer and other smaller animals The 
bears killed oar hogs, and the wolves 
our sheep and calves and sometimes our 
yearlings. We could risk nothing un- 



mill stood, into which the game was to 
be driven. The men from each town- 
ship were to be on the line of the town- 
ship of Streetsboro next to them, at ten 
o'clock in the morning. The swamps 
were frozen, and there was about three 
inches of snow, and a good day for the 
hunt. Most of the regular hunters were 
opposed to the hunt, for the game was 
all their dependence, and I was one of 
them. I started oat early with my dog, 



-28— 



to b9 OQ hand when the game started. I 
took my positioa on a dry piece of 
ground a little soath of the center, and 
sat down on a log. I soon heard a crash- 
ing noise in a hollow about forty rods 
otf, and walked to a large whitewood 
tree. Looking up, I saw the head of a 
huge bear sticking out of a hole in the 
tree. I drew my rifle on his eye. When 
it cracked he fell back into the tree with 
a wonderful kicking and smashing, but 
was soon still. I saw where three more 
bears had left the tree and sent the dog 
after them. In about half a mile he 
overtook and ran all of them up a tree. 




KENT CONGREGATIONAL 
CHURCH. 

The Congregationalists organized in Kent 
on June 18, J8J9. The present building, 
pictured above, was erected in 1858. 



When I got sight of them the old one 
was about forty feet from the ground, 
on one side of the tree. I took to a tree 
to shoot her, but before I got there she 
came down and took to boxing the dog, 
and finally to hugging him as though 
she loved him. I ran up to within about 
two rods, but could not fire without hit- 
ting the dog. She would hug him and 
then ease up, and every time he wonld 



work from under her. The dog got 
loose and came running towards me, 
and the bear, whirling around, saw me 
and made as straight for me as a bee 
line. When she was about eight feet 
from me I fired, and happening to hit 
her right, she dropped. I was a little 
scared, and ran back to load my gun. 
The dog was worrying her, when she 
got up and knocked him away. She 
went about fifteen feet to a big tree and 
set herself down between its large roots, 
her back to the tree. There she sat like 
a person in an arm chair, to keep oif 
the dog. By the time I got my gun 
loaded she fainted, tumbled over and 
gave up the ghost. She was the most 
frightful looking animal I ever saw as 
she came at me, her bristles sticking 
forward, her eyes like balls of fire, and 
her nose turned up, showing her teeth 
furiously. While we were at the tussle, 
the other two came down the tree and 
ran off. I set the dog after them, and 
in about a mile he treed one of them, 
which I shot and carried back to the old 
one. Then I began to hear the horns 
and bells in different directions, and to 
see the deer bounding along ahead of 
the men on the lines. When they cam^ 
up I fell into the ranks and marched up 
to the ring or slaughter pen. When it 
was closed up there was the greatest 
sight I ever saw. There was over one 
hundred deer and a large number of 
bears and wolves. As they ran around 
the ring the guns cracked like Rattle. 
The deer came arouud in great flocks 
like a storm. It was a splendid sight to 
see so many deer with their large 
antlers. The hunters got together and 



-29— 



when the dreves came around would 
make a gap in the lines and let them 
oat. They ran out in large flocks and 
then the gaps were closed up to keep in 
the bears and wolves. The firing was' 
kept up till we thought they were all 



Williard, of Rootstown, and Samuel 
Curtis, of Hudson, were standing to 
gether and both fired at the wolf. He fell 
and Williard ran up to the wolf: Curtis 
claimed the scalp as his, and took hold 
of the wolf. They pulled and hauled 




GRANDMA SPOONER. 



The oldest person who ever lived in Franklin township was Priscilla Delano 
Spooner. She was bora in Plymouth, Mass., Dec. U, 1793. She lived in Kent a quarter 
of a century and passed away July 9, J 897, aged i03 years and seven months. 



dead bat one ; he was wounded and 
came hopping around the ring, eight or 
ten rods from the line, everybody holler- 
ing "Wolf, wolf, wolf," and firing a 
perfect storm of bullets. He was shot 
down before he reached us. Phillip 



the wolf around a while, then dropped 
him and went at each other with their 
fists. They were of about the same size 
and well matched. They made the blood 
flow pretty freely, bat after a long and 
hard pull, Willard outwitted Curtis and 



-so- 



got the better of him. When they got 
up to look for the wolf, he was scalped 
and gone. A. wolf scalp was worth 
seven dollars— a big pile of money for 
those times. When all were collected 
there were over sixty deer, seven bears 
and five wolves, but a number of wolves 
got away. 

The wolf is the most cunning of ani- 
mals. When they find themselves cor- 
nered they hide in tree tops or under 

A Pioneer Hotel. 




THE OLD REVERE HOUSE. 

It was erected in 1836 by Zenas Kent. 
Merrick Sawyer opened it April i, 1839, 
and was its first landlord. It has been 
known as the Franklin Exchange, Franklin 
House, Continental Hotel and the Revere 
House. It was remodeled as a business 
block in 1899. 



oid logs. When we went to gather up 
the game, a number of wolves started 
off. We thought there were twelve 
bears and six wolves killed that day, 
for many that were killed were not 
brought in. David Grier, Dr. DeWolf, 
Wm. Frazier and many others followed 
on horseback behind the line, and what 



was killed they put aside and went on 
for more, or it was so said. The same 
game was played in other directions, 
and it was not certainly known what 
game was killed. It was divided into 
four piles, one for each of the four 
townships, when they cast lots for 
choice, and each took its pile and 
marched away, Franklin township sold 
theirs for whisky, and had a high time, 
benefitting nobody by the destruction of 
the game. Many families suffered in 
consequence, whose whole dependence 
for meat was in the wild game of the 
forest. The country could not have 
been settled had it not been for the wild 
animals to furnish meat, and their skins 
for clothing for us. The beaver, otter, 
mink and muskrats supplied us with 
hats and caps. 

A HUNTING EXPEDITION. 

I thought I would give yon a history 
of a trapping and hunting expedition 
up the lake in early d'lys, in 1817, by 
three of us. Col. George Darrow, Joseph 
Darrow and myself. We built a little 
boat on Darrow street, in Hudson, 
twelve feet long and four feet wide in 
the middle. We prepared ourselves for 
a six weeks' trip. We got sixty traps 
and two guns, and started about the 
middle of March, in 1817. We hauled 
our boat to the river in Boston, near the 
"big opening," and launched it and 
loaded up, got in and down the river 
we went, anticipating a good time of it. 
The river was almost walled in with ice 
on each bank, the day was fine and 
warm, and down we went with two 
oars, and a paddle to steer with, until 
we got to the Pinery in Northfield, 



—31- 



where there was a fallen tree with a 
bashy top, which reached about two- 
thirds across the river. We thought we 
could run around it, but the water 
sucked us into the top , knocked both of 
our guns overboard, and came near cap- 
sizing our little boat ; but we managed 
to save her and run around the top, and 
what to do we did not know. We had 
no money to buy, and did not want to 
go without guns, so we thought we 
would make the attempt to regain them. 
We cast lots to see who should make the 
attempt. They were the oldest and got 
it on to me. I stripped off and took hold 
of a limb, and in I went. The water 
was as deep as I was "long," but I hap- 
pened to strike one of them with my 
feet and got it up, and in I went again, 
and felt around with my feet and found 
the other and got it up so that they got 
hold of It. They hauled me into the 
boat. We had a jug of whisky with us 
I took a good "horn" when I went in 
and when I got out and got my clothes 
on, and they rolled me up in some 
blankets. I lay there most of the day. 
If it had not been for the whisky it 
would have almost killed me. We went 
down the river within a few miles of 
Cleveland, where we encamped for the 
night. The next morning we loaded up 
and got to Cleveland about 9 o'clock a. 
m. The day was warm and fine, but 
the lake was full of ice. But the breeze 
from land had broken it off from shore, 
60 there was a strip of . about twenty 
rode wide, of open water. We went on, 
and when we came to Bock River, there 
was about seven miles of ice-bound 
shore, where a man could not save him- 



self in time of a storm. The weather 
being fine, we thought we could risk it. 
We made our oars play lively to get by 
the rocks, but the wind changed and 
the ice drifted back. We pulled for 
dear life, but before we got through the 
ice began to crowd us. We came to a 
place where there was a little hollow, 
where a little stream came in, and we 
hauled out. Quite a snow storm came 
up, and we stayed there two nights. 
The second night it cleared off and we 
went on again. About 5 o'clock a. m. 
we came in sight of Vermillion River, 
where the ice had broken off. It led us 
into the Iftke nearly a mile, where the 
channel of the river came in ; but the 
wind changed again, and before we got 
through the ice closed in upon us, and 
we had a serious time of it. When the 
ice closed up we were about twenty 
rods from the channel, and we thought 
our time had come. Our little boat was 
knocked about by the ice, sometimes on 
top and again almost under, and the 
water kept splashiag in so that one had 
to keep bailing it out, and the other two 
had to contend with the ice and work 
ahead slowly. We stuck there for a 
long time, but with patience and hard 
work we got through to the channel of 
the river, and glad enough to get 
through what we might call the "for- 
lorn hope." There was a family living 
at the mouth of the river, and we 
stayed there that day and night. We 
dried our things, and came to Huron 
River, where we found a large marsh 
in which were plenty of muskrats. We 
set our traps and caught over sixty rats 
that night. The next night we again 



-32— 



set our traps. The Canadian French 
found us out, and stole ten of them. 
The next morning we went in search of 
them, but were glad enough to get off 
with what we had and a whole skin 
We left as soon as we could. The next 
place was Sandu8k7 Bay. There was 
the greatest sight I ever saw in the way 
of feathered flock. The swans, geese 
and ducks had gathered into the bay, 
and were still coming in from every 
direction, and by night there were acres 
covered with them. They laid their 
eggs and hatched their young on those 
islands. 

At that period they kept in the mid- 
dle of the bay so that ws could not get 
at them, but after dark Darrow thought 
he would give them a shot, but before 
he got there some trappers on the op- 
posite side fired at them, and they all 
rose and flew, and with the squawking 
and flapping of wings, you would think 
there was a wonderful thunder storm 
nearby ; and when they came over Dar- 
row fired at them, and that increased 
their noise. We went out in the morn- 
ing and found two geese. We camped 
on a small creek that came into the bay, 
called Coal Creek, and came out of a 
hill about a mile from the bay. It was 
large enough for our boat to go up to 
the head of it. The second day we went 
up the bay, which was nine miles long. 
We got a Frenchman to haul our boat 
across a neck of land, about half a mile 
across, to the main lake, and where 
Caron River, afterwards called Portage 
River, runs through Black Swamp. We 
went up the lake about four miles and 
came to a stream that emptied into the 



lake. There was a big marsh that was 
full of muskrats— I should think two or 
three hundred acres. We landed and 
pitched our tent, and prepared to catch 
rats. The first night we caught over 
sixty rats. One of us was out among 
the traps most of the night. The next 
day Darrow started out with the traps 




LUTHER H. PARMELEK 

Mr. Parmelee, who was born in Mt. Mor- 
ris, N. Y., came to Hudson in J 832 and to 
Franklin Mills in 1855. He died July 8, 
1894. 



in a canoe, and met three Frenchmen 
coming down stream who demanded 
the canoe, and Darrow • paddled back. 
The fellows paddled after, and when 
Darrow came up we pulled the canoe 
on shore. They landed and got hold of 
it and attempted to push it back into 
the water, and got it partly in. One of 
them jumped into the canoe and was 
trying to push it off. I had one of our 



-33- 



gnns in my hands and I pat it up 
against him and pushed him over into 
the water. He got up, and if you ever 
saw a devil you might have seen one at 
that time. They swore in French, and 
looked as savage as a meat-axe. We got 
out our traps, and it was not long before 
ten or twelve more came down by land 
and we did not dare to say our souls 
were our own. They took the canoe 
and went off, and told us to leave. We 
loaded up and left, and had just got 
started when back they came. We got 
out into the lake, and if we had not got 
off as we did, they would have stripped 
us, or perhaps killed us. 

There was no law west of Cleveland 
but the strong arm and the club law. 
We thought of going to the point of 
Olay Island, about three miles out in 
the lak< , but the wind was so strong 
against us that we could not make it, so 
we turned our course for the Penin- 
sula and got there after dark. We saw 
a fire out in the woods, and one of us 
went out to see what it meant, and found 
an old Frenchman living there who was 
shooting rats in a little marsh on the 
Peninsula. We begged the privilege of 
staying over night with him. He said 
yes, so we hauled our plu'uder to his 
camp. About ten o'clock we heard some 
firing up where we had left, and about 
twelve o'clock two men came up to our 
fire, and said they had had a damnable 
scrape with the Frenchmen about where 
we had left. They had taken every- 
thing from them but their guns. They 
said they backed off into the bushes and 
commenced firing at them, thinking 
they would kill some of the devils. But 



the Frenchmen returned their fire. 
They knew where there was a canoe, 
and made for it and got away and came 
where we were. One of them was 
Ohauncey Lowry, of Stow, and the other 
a man by the name of Smith, both at 
that time of Palmyra. The next day 
they were hunting on the Peninsula, 
and came across a herd of hogs belong- 
ing to the French. Smith said he was 
going to have pay for one trap, and he 
shot and skinned one of them and 
brought it near the camp, so when the 
old Frenchman went out to shoot rats, 
there was a good meal cooked of it . We 
stayed there eight days, then went 
down the lake shore. As we were going 
along we saw a man lying on the shore. 
We supposed he was dead, and went out 
and found him alive, but so badly 
bruised and cut up that he could not 
stand alone when assisted to his feet. 
His face was so badly swollen that we 
could not see his eyes. He said he and 
his partner got into a fuss with the 
Frenchmen, and they overpowered and 
knocked them as long as it seemed good 
to them. He could not tell where his 
partner was. We took him in and car- 
ried him around to the main land and 
left him there in care of a man ; then 
we went on down to Huron River, 
where we made a fine haul that night, 
but had to leave again on account of the 
French. The next day we went down 
to Black River, where we stayed two 
days. There I shot an otter, and did 
well while we stayed there, and then 
went on down to Cleveland, where we 
heard of the death of J. Wood and 
Bishop, by the Indians. They were 



-34— 



killed about three miles from the mouth 
of the Caron River, We were well ac- 
quainted with Wood, and tried to find 
him, but failed. I think the Indians 
that killed him belonged to the Chippewa 
tribe. They killed them for their traps 



the fall of 1817. They were tried and 
convicted on the testimony of the In- 
dians, and two of them were hung. The 
other was discharged because he was 
young, and was led into the scrape by 
the older ones. They were executed in 



Rent Town HalL 




Erected About the Middle of the Eighteenth Century. 
Photo by Woodard. 



and furs. There were three of them 
that did the deed. Our Government 
called on the Chief to deliver up the 
perpetrators, and to deliver them up in 



May, 1818, and were . the first persons 
executed in Cuyahoga county. We 
were gone from home five we^ks, and 
got $150 worth of furs, and mi 'it have 



—35- 



got three times that amoant if we had 
not been molested by the French. 

FIRST SETTLEMENT OF HUDSON . 

The writer came into what is now the 
township of Hudson, Summit county, 
Ohio, on the 10th day of May, in the 
year 1804. At that time this region was 
a nearly unbroken wilderness, heavily 
timbered, and occupied by wild men 
and wild animals ; probably thirty or 
forty Indians to one white man. I 
think there was not a house between the 
present town of Hudson and Canton, in 
Stark county, except one that was built 
in the northeast corner of Stow town- 
ship, by William Walker, before the 
township was surveyed into lots. . 

Hudson is township 4, in the 10th 
range of townships ; it was purchased of 
the Connecticut Land Company by 
David Hudson. Birdseye Norton, Nath- 
aniel Norton, Benjamin Oviatt, Stephen 
Baldwin, and Theodore Parmely. The 
township was supposed to contain six- 
teen thousand acres ; the price said to be 
paid for it was fifty-two cents per acre. 
The first settlement was made by David 
Hudson, in 1799. Mr. Hudson came up 
the lake with some hired men, in an 
open boat, to the mouth of the Cuyahoga 
River, then up the Cuyahoga into Boston 
township. When he thought he was in 
range of the township of Hudson, the 
party landed and went in search of their 
wilderness home. They struck off in a 
southeasterly direction and got into the 
southwest part of the township, a little 
south of where Henry Deacon now lives, 
where they settled down and commen- 
ced work. They built a shanty to 
shelter them from the storms, and went 



to chopping and clearing land for a fail 
crop. They nnderbrushed about ten 
acres, girdled the standing timber, and 
sowed it to wheat that fall, of which 
they raised a good crop. They next 
built a log house, 16 by 18, I should 
think, for I have been in it a great many 
times. 

The company consisted of David Hud- 
son, Joseph Darrow, Geo. Darrow, Wil- 
liam McKinney, Theodore Lacey, Elijah 
Nobles, George Pease, and some others. 
About the last of July, Thaddus Lacey 
and Joseph Darrow commenced survey- 
ing the township of Hudson, and about 
the middle of October David Hudson 
started back to the east after his family, 
from whence he returned in the year 
1800, in company with Samuel Bishop, 
Joel Gay lord, Aaron Norton, Dr. Moses 
Thompson, William Leach, Heman 
Oviatt, and Stephen Perkins, who all 
settled near the center of the township, 
except Mr. Oviatt, who settled one mile 
south of the center, where he built a log 
house near to where there is a big elm 
tree standing to mark the spot. That 
tree has grown up since my remem- 
brance ; it stands about twenty -five or 
thirty rods north' of R. P. Ellsworth's 
old house. George Darrow located on 
what is now called Darrow street, south 
of Hudson, and Dr. Thompson, north- 
west of Hudson, on the Northampton 
road, where he lived and died. In the 
fall of 1800 Dr. Moses Thompson went 
back east on foot, carrying a pack of 
provisions on his back to last him 
through the wilderness. In the spring 
of 1801 he returned in company with his 
father, Deacon Stephen Thompson, and 



-36— 



his brothers, Abraham and Stephen, Jr , 
his brother-in-law, Bradford Kellogg. 
I think it was in the spring of 1802 that 



Whedon and George W. Holcomb 
came in 1803. William Chamberlain, 
Nathaniel Stone, Theodore Hollenbeck, 



Rent's Foremost Citizen. 




MARVIN KENT. 

Marvin Kent, son of Zenas Kent, was born in Ravenna, Sept. 21, I8J6. He became 
a resident of Kent in 1838, following manufacturing and mercantile pursuits. In 1850 he 
planned and projected the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad, now a part of the Erie 
system, being its first president In 1865, w^hen his father died, he became his successor as 
president of the Kent National bank. In 1875 he was elected State senator from the 
Twenty sixth district of Ohio. In the history of Portage county it is written: "In early 
days the pioneers devoted themselves to the task of building up a town on the Cuyahoga 
w^ith remarkable energy; not, however, until the various enterprises were taken hold of by 
the master hand of Marvin Kent did theories of progress, put forward by the old settlers, 
assume practical shape. Thus, to his aid and fostering care may properly be ascribed the 
industrial and commercial prosperity which the pleasant little village bearing his name 
now enjoys," 



John Oviatt, Amos Lusk and Elias Liud- 
ley came into Hudson. Zina Post came 
in 1804; Owen Brown, Benjamin 



and .Joseph Kingsbury came in 1810. 
, The following are the names of a few 
of the heads of families that first came 



—37- 



to Hudson and their families : David 
Hudson came in 1799, and in 1810 
brought his family of six children — five 
sons and one daughter— Samuel, Ira, 
William, Timothy, Milo and Abigail. 
Ira Hudson married Huldah Oviatt ; 
William married Phebe Hutchinson ; 
Milo married Bannah Roberts ; Abigail 
married Birdseye Oviatt. Samuel 
Bishop came to Hudson in 18u0, and 
brought five sons and four daughters. 
Timothy married Rebecca Craig ; David 
married Miss Kennedy ; Luman married 
Rachel Gaylord ; Reuben died single ; 
Joseph married Miss HoUenbeck. One 
of the girls married Stephen Perkins ; 
one Elijah Noble ; one Samuel Vale, and 
one a HoUenbeck. Joel Gaylord came 
in 18)0, and brought v?ith him three 
sons and four daughters— John, Daniel, 
Harvey, Sally, Olive, Betsy and Nancy . 
Sally married Wm. Leach, and after- 
ward a John Ford ; she lost one of her 
legs by stepping on a rusty nail. Olive 
married George Darrow ; Betsy married 
William McKinley ; and Nancy married 
William Chamberlain. 

David Hudson was commissioned a 
Justice of the Peace by Governor St. 
Glair, in this Northwest Territory in 
1801, before the township was organized. 
This territory was ceded to the United 
States by the State of Virginia in 1784, 
and in 1875 Gen. St. Olair was appoint- 
ed Governor. The territory included 
the present States of Ohio, Indiana, Illi- 
nois and Wisconsin and Michigan. 

The first law salt brought before 
David Hudson, Esq., was by Thaddens 
Lacey against Thomas and Daniel Jndd, 
on book account, March, 24, 1801. The 



first birth in Hudson was Anna May, 
daughter of David and Maria Hudson. 
She was born October 28, 1800, and be- 
came the wife of Harvey Baldwin, both 
now living in the old homestead. The 
first male child born in Hudson was the 
son of Wm. and Harvey Leach, born 
November, 1801. First death in Hudson 
was that of Ira Nobles, August 23, 1801 , 
aged eight years. The first wedding 
was that of George Darrow to Olive Gay- 
lord, October 11. 1801. The ceremony 
was performed by Squire Hudson, and 
being the first official act of the kind, 
the Squire was considerably embar- 
rassed, and had to repeat the ceremony 
over and ever to get it right. 

The township was organized April 5, 
1802. A public meeting was called for 
the purpose of electing township officers, 
at which eighteen votes were polled. 
The names of the voters were D. Hud- 
son, J. Darrow, G. Darrow, Dr. Thomp- 
son, T. Lacey, Wm. McKinley, A. Nor- 
ton, H. Oviatt, E. Sheldon (of Aurora) , 
E. Nobles, S. Bishop, J. Gaylord, A. 
Thompson, Deacon Stephen Thompson, 
Robert Walker and Elias Harmon. 
These constituted the voting population 
of Stow, Boston, Twinsburgh, Aurora 
and Mantua, which were all attached for 
township purposes in 1802. David Hud- 
son was chairman ; Thaddeus Lacey was 
chosen township clerk ; Heman Oviatt 
and Ebenezer Sheldon, trustees ; Elias 
Harmon, poor maF'^r; Aaron Norton, 
fence viewer. 

The first school taught in Hudson 
township was by George Pease, in a log 
house on the puUic square, in the center 
of the township, in the winter of 1801. 



-38— 



The next was in the same house by Miss 
Patty Fields, in the winter of 1802. 
Miss Fields was a sister of Judge Nor- 
ton's wife. The third was in the north- 
west quarter, near John Oviatt's, by 
Amy Gannon,' of Aurora, who after- 
wards became the wife of Deacon Spen- 
cer, of Aurora. 



died in 1808. She was buried with an 
infant in her arms, and I think was the 
first adult buried in the township. Mrs. 
Joel Gaylord, 1800 : died '45, aged 74. 
Samuel Bishop, 1800 ; died '13, aged 62. 
Mrs. Bishop died '15, aged 59. Heman 
Oviatt, 1801; died '55, aged 81. Mrs. 
Oviatt, 1801 ; died '13, aged 37. Amos 



Mr. and Mrs. Jas. H. Reed. 





Jas, H. Reed and Miss Terzie Scranton were married in 1835. In *37 they located 
in Franklin township. Mr. Reed was a veterinary surgeon for 60 years. Their married 
life of 66 years was terminated by the death of Mr. Reed, Oct. 15, I90I. 



ARRIVALS AND DEATHS OF EARLY SET- 
TLERS. 

David Hudson came in 1799 ; died 
March 17, 1836, aged 76 years. His 
wife, Maria, died August 31, 1816, aged 
55 years. Mrs. Geo. Darrow came in 
1800; died in 1845, aged 60. Joel Gay- 
lord came in 1800 ; died July 24, 1827, 
aged 74. Owen Brown, 1805; died 
March 8, 1856, aged 85. Mrs. Brown 



Lusk, 1802 ; died '13 ; he was captain of 
a company of militia in the war of 1812, 
came home on a furlough, was taken 
sick and died of an epidemic fever. 
Eben Pease, Elias Lindley, and some 
others died with the same fever. Geo. 
W. Holcomb, 1802; died '47, aged 71. 
Ohauncey Case, 1814 ; died March 27, 
'63, aged 75. Mrs. Case died Jan. 23, 
'67, aged 87. 



—39- 



Robert Walker came in 1801, with 
four sons— John, James, Robert and 
George William Walker built a house 
in the northeast corner of the township 
of Stow, in 1803, which was the first one 
built in the township. At that time the 
township had not been surveyed into 
lots. In the spring of 1803 Robert Wal- 
ker and David Hudson were elected 

Oldt-Tixne Printer. 







G. G. GALLOWAY, 
Mr. Galloway, who was still living in 
Chicago in 1894, aged 81 years, was a prin- 
ter on the Ohio Observer in Hudson in 1832. 



Justices of the Peace, and were the first 
Justices elected by the people. Mr. 
Walker was kept in that office up to his 
death, Jane 11, 1813, aged 74. Elizabeth, 
his wife, died April 24, 1818. John 
Walker came in 1801 ; died Sept. 3, '41, 
aged 78. George Walker came in 1801 ; 
died March 16, '55, aged 63 ; his wife 
died March 23, '51, aged 68. Robert 



O'Brien came in 1802 ; died '31, aged 82. 
Harry O'Brien came in 1802 ; married in 
1804 ; died July 15, '52, aged 71. Sally, 
his wife, died August 11, '57, aged 79. 
Marmadake Deacon came in 1805 ; died 
June 9, '30, aged 67 ; his wife, Mary, 
died August 15, 1806, aged 40. Augus- 
tus Baldwin came in 1812, as a dry 
goods merchant. I used to trade with 
him, and pay him fifty cents for a yard 
of cotton, three-quarters wide ; seventy- 
five cents for a yard wide ; had to work 
three days for a shirt. Baldwin moved 
into Franklin township in 1836, and took 
charge of the Franklin Silk Company's 
Bank, as cashier, where he was taken 
sick, and died Oct. 29, '38, aged 50 years. 
Benjamin Whedon came in 1805, died in 
1833, aged 54; his wife died in 1809, 
aged 43. They had no children, but an 
adopted son, whom they called John 
Whedon ; he kept a grocery store in 
Hudson for a long time. 

Nathaniel Stone came in 1810 ; died 
August 2, '60, aged 75. Sarah, his wife, 
died June 17, '67, aged 77. Richard 
Croy Came in 1807 ; died March 9, '52, 
aged 66. Zenas Kent and wife came in 
the spring of 1814, and settled on Darrow 
street ; came with a one horse peddling 
wagon, and some goods. He worked 
there that summer, at the carpenter and 
joiner business ; his son Henry was born 
there, in 1814, in a little log house. Mr. 
Kept kept school that winter. I attended 
it then, and also in the winter of '15. 
Heman Oviatt induced Kent to go to 
Ravenna and put up a store house, and 
that fall Kent put in six hundred dol- 
lars worth of goods that he had on hand. 
Oviatt put in one thousand dollars 



-40— 



worth, and Kent became the salesman. 
They carried on the business six years, 
when they dissolved partnership, and 
Kent had made eleven thousand dollars 
out of his six hundred dollars. Col. John 
Oviatt came to Hudson in 1801 ; died 
1827, aged 75 ; his wife died 1813. Joseph 
Darrow came in 1799, and in 1803 was 
married to Sally Pry or, of Northampton ; 
the first wedding in that township. In 
1804, he bought a farm on Darrow 
street, just over the line in Stow town- 
ship, where he lived, and died at the 
good old age of 81 years ; Sally, his wife, 
died May 30, '47. Dr. Moses Thompson 
came in 1800, and died Nov., 1858, aged 
83. John Brown (Ossowatamie), born 
May 9, 1800 ; came in 1805 ; executed at 
Charleston, Va., Dec, 1859. Dr. Met- 
calf came in 1812 ; died 1869, aged 83. 
George Darrow came in 1799 ; died Nov. 
83, '59, aged 83. 

In coming to this country we had to 
buy our farms and pay for them in 
hard knocks ; make our roads the best 
we could, and build log bridges mcross 
swamps. Our carriages were the plain- 
est kind of ox carts, sleds and stone- 
boats. In visiting- one another we used 
to get up the oxen, hitch them to the 
cart, throw in some hay or straw, all 
get in, and off over stumps, around trees 
and over log bridges. I never knew of 
a man being troubled with dyspepsia or 
heart disease in those days. The first 
mill built in Hudson was by my father 
and Stephen Myers, in the faU of 1806 ; 
it was a hand mill, and answered a good 
purpose. Our neighbors used to come in 
to grind, and kept the little mill a hum- 
ming. I have one of the mill stones 



now to look at. Before this, we had to 
go to Newburg to mill, and carry the 
grain on horse-back, as there were no 
roads so we could go with a cart. It 
would take a day to go down, about 
twenty miles, stay there a day to get it 
ground, and the next day go home, all 
the way through the woods. 

After all the hardships and privations 
we enjoyed life when we had enough to 
eat, and the greatest friendship and har- 
mony existed among neighbors. If one 
had provisions, he would divide with 
his neighbor, almost to the last mouth- 
ful. We used to get together at some 
school house and have meetings, all 
parties and no distinction of parties ; all 
harmony and peace until the sectarians 
and lawyers come among us, who creat- 
ed parties and strife, and destroyed a 
good deal of the friendship that existed 
between neighbors. 

EARLY TIMES IN HUDSON— THE LOST CHILD. 

In 1809, Eben Pease, who lived a little 
west of the center of Hudson, sent one 
of his girls, aged eight or nine years, on 
an errand to Benjamin Oviatt's, about 
two miles north of the center, where 
George Bently now lives. She went 
there, and on coming back, she got off 
the road, and was lost in the woods. 
There was a cow- path that led off from 
the road, and she followed that. As 
she did not get home at dark, her father 
got uneasy about her, and started over 
to Oviatt's, where they told him she 
had left for home long before night. 
Mr. Pease went back, and getting no 
trace of her, he rallied the neighbors, 
and they ransacked the woods in every 
direction. They fired off guns and blew 



horns till after midnight, but got no 
trace of her. The next morning they 
started out again, and about ten o'clock 
Richard Oroy found her lying on an old 
log, asleep. She was almost exhausted, 
and looked vei-y wild. She said, when 
she got off the road into the woods, she 
tried to find her way, ran, hallooed and 
cried, going from instead of towards 
home, with no one to hear her lamenta- 
tions. She had wandered about three 
miles in a southerly diiection. 

THE BURNING OF BELINDA STONE. 

Nathaniel Stone came to Hudson in 
1810, and bought the farm that John 
Ellsworth now occupies. In 1834 he 
sold out, and bought where his son, 
Roswell Stone, now lives, where he 
built a log house. In the year 1845 his 
house got on fire in the dead of night, 
when all were asleep. His son, Oharles, 
and daughter, Belinda, slept up stairs. 
The stairs were near the fireplace, and 
when they awoke the stairway was all 
in flames, and the chamber was so full 
of smoke they could hardly breathe. 
Oharles called his sister, and they 
started for a window, where he got out 
and escaped, but his sister was suffocai- 
ed, and, falling down inside, she burned 
to death. She was twenty-two years 
old. 

HEMAN OYIATT AND THE INDIANS. 

Of the Indians who formerly lived 
about Hudson, there were three tribes, 
viz : the Senecas, Ottawas and Ohip- 
pewas. The Senecas had their head- 
quarters in the southeast part of Streets- 
boro, on the Cuyahoga River; the Otto- 
was near the mouth of the Little Cuya- 
hoga, and Id the summer time a great 



mary of them used to come up and 
camp around Wetmore Pond, in Stow 
township. The Ohippewas lived farther 
south, near Seville, in the southern part 
of Medina county, and about Chippewa 
Lake, in Wayne county, which derives 
its name from these Indians. Heman 
Oviatt had his residence about one mile 




KENT DISCIPLE CHURCH. 

This edifice was erected in J853-'54, 
through the efforts of the late S. S. Clapp. 

south of Hudson, where, in early days 
he traded with the Indians, buying 
their furs, skins, etc. When he got 
enough to make two bales, he would 
load them on a horse across a pack- 
saddle, and take them to Pittsburg, 
which was the nearest market at that 
time. At Pittsburg he would buy two 
ten gallon kegs of whisky, with which 
to make a return load for the pack- 
horse, then with a bundle of dry goods, 
such as blankets and shawls, also pow- 
der, lead and a great many Indian 
trinkets, with a bundle behind him on 



—42- 



the horse, he would start for home, 
through the woods. He nsed to sell the 
Indians half a pint of whisky for a coon 
skin, which was worth three or four 
shillings, and a pint of whisky for a buck 
skin, worth from seventy-five cents to a 
dollar ; fonr qnarts of whisky for a bear 
skin, worth from three to five dollars. 
The Indians thonght he cheated them 
and did not like to trade with him. 
They called him Coppaqna ; they liked 
to trade with Coppaqna's sqnaw ; she 
wonld give them little presents and a 
little whisky, and she conld cheat them 
worse than Coppaqna conld, and they 
would think it all right. She got so she 
could talk Indian almost as good as they 
could. The Oviatts traded with the 
Indians till the war of 1818, when the 
Indians all left the country. Oviatt 
made himself rich out of the Indians, 
and before they left he built a still- 
honse, I think in 1808, and got the 
whisky running that fall. He got Rich- 
ard Redden, from Hiram, to run the 
still, and after several years sold out to 
his father-in-law, George Kilbnrn, who 
turned it into a tannery. Oviat made 
all he could, and then cried out, "vanity 
and vexation of spirit, for whisky is the 
root of all evil!" 

THE GBEAT ECLIPSE — INDIANS— CROPS. 

In the summer 1806 was a great 
eclipse of the sun, which took place on 
the 17th day of June. It was so dark 
you could not distinguish a neighbor ten 
rods off ; chickens and birds went to 
roost. The eclipse commenced about 
eleven o'clock a. m., and went off at 
one p. m. The Indians were very much 
frightened. They knew nothing of it 



till it came on, and thought it was the 
Bad Spirit which had got at war with 
the Grood Spirit. They formed them- 
selves Into a"ring and marched around, 
and when they came to a certain spot 
would fire at the Bad Spirit. Just as the 



One of tKe Pioneers. 




RUEL L. SHIRTLIFF. 

Mr. Shirtliff was born Oct. 27, I8J6, in 
Hampden cc, Mass., and came to Fra,nklin 
township March 6, I8I8. He died Feb. J2, 
1900, after a residence here of 82 years. 



sun came oat one of tbem fir>id, and 
they made him a chief for his bravery. 
The day of the eclipse was a beauti- 
ful, warm day ; we were hoeing corn 
the second time, with only shirt and 
pants on, but after the eclipse was off 
the weather was so much colder that 
we had to put on onr vests and coats to 



—43- 



workin. There were frosts every month 
that summer ; no corn got ripe, and the 
next spring we had to send to the Ohio 
River for seed corn to plant. 

The next sammer was the hardest 
time I ever saw. There was no grain in 
the country. My father and Adam 
Nighman went to Georgetown on the 
Ohio River, for flour; they had no 
money, but took a rifle and pledged it 
for flour, and I guess they never re- 
deemed the rifle. 

BRADY'S LEAP. 

I saw an article in the Press, entitled 
"Brady's Leap Corrected," written by 
Gen. L. V. Bierce, of Akron, in which 
1 thought there was room for correc • 
tion. There must be some error, for of 
the various accounts that I have seen, 
no two of them agree as to the distance 
across the chasm where it was said that 
Brady leaped. Some gave it at 27 feet, 
some at 25 and some at 22. I will now 
give you my view of the matter : I 
crossed the bridge that was thrown 
over the river about ten feet below 
where it was said Brady jumped across, 
on the 10th day of May, 1804, and at 
that time it was a dismal looking place. 
It was just as the God of Nature had 
made it, with the exception of the 
bridge. The distance between the 
shelving rocks could not vary very 
much from 21 feet. The hemlocks from 
either side mingled their tops together, 
and it was about 25 feet from the bridge 
down to the water. It was a dismal 
place, indeed. The Hudson people and 
the Ravenna people got together and 
threw a bridge across at that place, in 
the fall of 1803. This was the first bridge 



overthrown across the Cuyahoga River. 
They ran a road from Hudson to Ra- 
venna that fall, crossing on that bridge, 
and that was the first east and west 
road ever traveled in this section of the 
country. It was not all underbrush 
when I came through on the 10th of 
May, 1804. I was well acquainted with 
the men who built the bridge. From 
Hudson, there was David Hudson, Esq., 
Joel Gaylord, George Darrow, Joseph 
Darrow and Wm. McKinley. From Ra- 
venna, "Jack" Wright, Thomas Wright, 
Robert Bell and some others. I have 
heard them speak of it a great many 
times, and none of them ever called it 
more than 21 feet between the points of 
the rocks. I have never measured it, 
but took their, word, and I should think 
it did not vary a foot from that distance 
across. I was well acquainted with the 
place. The Haymakers built a mill be- 
low, where Kent's mill now stands, and 
I used to go to mill there. They got the 
mill running in the fall of 1808. I recol- 
lect one circumstance that occurred 
which made me examine the place more 
particularly. The Haymakers had a 
yoke of oxen, and one of them was 
blind of an eye. He was feeding along 
the river, near the end of the bridge, 
with his blind side toward the river, 
and tumbled off the shelving rocks into 
the stream below. It was, as I have 
said above, about 25 feet down to the 
water, and the water was about eight 
or ten feet deep where he fell. Freder- 
ick Haymaker's wife saw him tumble 
in, and she gave the alarm, and they 
got him out. I used to go to see the 
place where he fell off, and should think 



—45— 



First Meeting of Pioneer Association. 



From the Kent Courier, Aprill 22, 1904. 



The Courier presents herewith, j 
through the courtesy of O. O. Cackler, 
a most iaterestiag photograph, interest- 
ing because it shows a gathering of 
many of the pioneers of this section, 
nearly all of whom have long since 
passed to the great beyond. 

It was taken by James Wark, now of 
Marion, O, at the home of Christian 
Cackler, the author of the history now 
running in the columns of the Courier. 

The occasion was the gathering of the 
pioneers on the day of the first meeting 
of the Pioneer Association at Mr. Cack- 
ler's home, October 20, 1874. 

The members of the association who 
appear in the photogragh are : 

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. 

Yale Russell and wife, 
Seneca Green and wife, 
Joseph Stratton and wife, 
James Haymaker and wife, 
Mrs. John Reed, 
Mrs. Jacob Day, 
James Cuthbert, 
A. M. Sherman and wife, 
Elisha Burnett (and drum), 
Frederick Nighman and wife, 
Mrs. Betsy DePeyster, 
Mr. Kendrick and wife, 
James Woodard and wife, 
William Bassett and wife, 
John Dewey and wife, 
Mrs. Mary Perry, 
Mrs. Frederick Dewey, 
Mrs. Hall, 

Joseph Norton and wife. 
Dr. L. W. Crittenden, 
Mrs. Clarisa Olin, 
John Gardner and wife, 
Robert Morris, 
Mrs. Austin Williams, 
Luther Parmelee and wife, 
P. W. Bard and wife, 
Harman Bradley, 



Mrs. Mary Wilcox, 

Mrs. Priscilla Spooner, 

John Perkins, 

Solon Gilson and wife, 

George Dewey, 

William Stinafif, 

Curtis DeForfst and wife. 

Homer W. Hart and wife, 

Warren Burt and wife. 

Freeman Underwood and wife, 

Mrs. S. E. Blake. 

STREETSBORO. 

Samuel Olin and wife, 

'Squire Russell, 

Mr. Bartholomew and wife, 

John Tucker and wife, 

Albert Doolittle and wife, 

Harvey Baldwin and wife, 

George Bradley, 

Mrs. Peck, 

Mrs. John Foster, 

Mrs. John Myers, 

Mrs. Lydia Wood. 

HUDSON. 

Stephen Myers and wife, 
Wm. Myers, 
Mrs. Hassetc, 

Frederick Baldwin and wife, 
Harvey Baldwin and wife, 
Lora Case and wife, 
Edwin Dewey and wife, 
Wm. Darrow and wife, 
Sylvester Thompson and wife, 
Harvey Dakin. 

BRIMFIELD. 

John Boosinger, 
Peter Cackler and wife, 
Captain Sherman and wife, 
Lida Underwood and wife, 
Oliver Sawyer. 

STOW. 

Henry Wetmore and wife. 
Maxwell Graham and wife, 
William Graham and wife, 
Betsy Lappin, 
Robert Stewart and wife. 

AURORA. 

Mrs. Polly Kennedy, 
Ely Cannon and wife. 

CUYAHOGA PALLS. 

George Dailey and wife, 
Andrew Dailey and wife. 



—46- 



the shelving rocks hung over the water 
on the west side ten feet or more at the 
place where it was said Brady jumped 
across. But oa the west side, from 
where he jumped, the rocks were about 
three feet higher than where he alight- 
ed, there being a dish or depression in 
the rocks to aboat that depth, three 
feet. I used to live in the south part of 
Hudson township, called Darrow street. 
In early days the Tawa tribe of Indians 
used to travel that road very much, go- 
ing to Captain Oviatt's to trade, he at 
that time keeping a trading post one 
mile south of the center of Hudson. 
The headquarters of this tribe was at 
the outlet of what is called the Stow or 
Wetmore Pond, Stow being 3 in the 
10th range of townships. One day some 
of these Indians came there to get some 
bread. He noticed that one of them 
looked very different from the rest, he 
having light blue eyes and sandy whis- 
kers, and was able to talk a little 
English. In conversation with him, he 
learned the following items ef his past 
history : He was living with a family 
near Pittsburg when a boy five or six 
years old. One day five Indians came 
to the house and killed all but himself. 
They then stole some horses, strapped 
him on behind one of the Indians, and 
'in this condition he was brought into 
this country. He said when he was 
grown up, he went back to hunt up 
some of his relatives He found some of 
them still alive, and after staying around 
a short time, he came back to the Indian 
life again, giving as his reason that the 
white man had to work, work, work, 
but the Indian did not. He married a 



squaw, (and at the time of this conver- 
sation) in the summer of 18G6 or '07, he 
had two papooses. 

As near as I could ascertain, he was 
taken prisoner in 1790 or '91, about, the 
same time that Brady had his fight with 
this same tribe of Indians, near the 
Wetmore Pond. Brady, being whipped 
in this fight, fled. The Indians, know- 
ing he would cross the Cuyahoga where 
the old Indian trail crossed which ran 
from the Ohio River to Sandusky, sent 
some of their fleetest runners to head 
him off there. They reached the cross- 
ing first. When Brady came up and 
saw that he was headed off, he started 
down the river. They could have shot 
him then, but being desirous of taking 
him prisoner, started after him. When 
he had reached the narrows of the river, 
he discovered that they had cut him off 
from below, also, and were closing in 
upon him from all sides, so that there 
was only one chance for life ; he quick- 
ly took that one, that of jumping the 
chasm of the river, which has ever since 
been called Brady's Leap. As he was 
climbing up the opposite bank, they 
shot him in the thigh. The Indians had 
to go down the river to the nearest cross- 
ing, where Kent's mill now stands, and 
come up on the other side. This gave 
Brady some time the start of them. 
They tracked him by the blood from his 
wound, to what has ever since been 
called Brady's Lake, in the eastern part 
of Franklin township, about a mile and 
a half from where they wounded him 
after he jumped across the river. Upon 
coming to the lake, he swam down to a 
point where a large tree had fallen into 



—47— 



the water, beneath which he secreted 
himself, and remained until his savage 
pursuers left, when he made his escape. 

The old Indian trail running from the 
Ohio to Sandusky crossed the Cuyahoga 
Hear what is called the standing stone • 
near where the water enters the gorge 
of rocks in Franklin township. I saw 
this standing stone in the fall of 1804. 
At this time there were two trees on 
the top of the rock, one of them a hem- 
lock, about 12 inches in diameter ; the 
other one a small pine. The rock, at this 
time, was from 16 to 18 feet across the 
top, and about half as large at the bot- 
tom, having been worn away by the 
action of the water below. The top of 
the rock was higher than the banks on 
either side, and covered all over with 
huckleberry bushes and moss. This rock 
stood about ten feet from the west 
bank. The Indians had felled a small 
sapling from the shore to the rock, form- 
ing what was called an Indian ladder, 
and by this means could climb on to the 
rock. It was a custom among them, 
that whenever a family passed here, 
they would climb on this rock and fasten 
to the hemlock a piece of bark pointing 
in the direction that they had gone, so 
that others following them could tell in 
what direction to find them. There 
were a good many pieces still sticking 
to the tree when I saw it. 

I got more information from an old 
lady who used to live in Springfield, 
and who afterwards moved to Streets - 
boro, and lived as a near neighbor to 
me, about Samuel Brady, than from 
any one else. She was a full cousin to 
him. She was the wife of Abraham 



DeHaven. She said she was well ac- 
quainted with "Samuel," as she called 
him ; that he used to live above Pitts- 
burg on what was called Orumb Creek ; 
that he was a very stout, muscular man, 
very active, and did not appear to be 
afraid of anything. She thought it was 
in 1790 that the Indians used to come to 
that settlement, and kill a family or 
two, steal some horses, and get what 
plunder they could, and then clear out. 
Samuel Brady raised a company of men 
and followed them. I think she said he 
had three scrapes with them. It is a 
little singular that it has been stated 
that John Haymaker and Jacob Stough 
were personally acquainted with and 
personal friends of Brady, and he never 
told them at what period or date this 
chase took place. T have not seen any 
dates given by any one who has written 
on this subject, therefore I think Mrs. 
DeHaven is right about the date. I 
also think so from other circumstances 
which corroborate her statement. 

In order to give you some idea of how 
the Indians became so hostile and sav- 
age towards our people, I should like to 
take you back to early times, as early as 
1776, when we declared ourselves free 
from our mother government. This 
vexed England very much, and in order 
to quickly reduce her children to sub- 
jection and obedience, she employed the 
Indians to assist her. She encouraged 
them by giving them five dollars for 
every scalp they could take from her 
subjects, and furnished them with all 
implements of war. The Indians pitched 
in with all their fury, and killed and 
scalped a great many of our people for 



—48— 



the bounty. The mother called herself 
a civilized and Christian people, and 
yet gave the wild Indians five dollars for 
every scalp taken from her chil- 
dren, just as we used to pay for the 
scalps of wolves that killed our sheep 
and calves. If that was a Christian 
spirit, God forbid ; the devil can do no 
wrong. But the war lasted seven long 
years, and by the help of France, we 
made her acknowledge our independence 
in 1783, But the Indians still continued 
their warfare till 1785, when we made a 
treaty of peace with them, and bought 
a large tract of land of them, which lay 
west of the Ohio River. I think it ex- 
tended as far west as the Cuyahoga 
waters. About that time there came in 
some clusters of families on the east 
side of the Ohio, in Pennsylvania and 
Virginia, and General Putnam com- 
menced a settlement at the month of 
the Muskingum, on the west side of the 
Ohio, where Marietta now stands. It 
was the first settlement made in Ohio ; 
bat at that time it was called the North- 
West Territory. The North- West Ter- 
ritory was ceded to the United States 
by the State of Virginia, in 1784. It 
was situated west of the Ohio River, 
and contained what are now known as 
the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 
Michigan and Wisconsin. 

In the spring of 1788 the Indians be- 
came dissatisfied with the treaty, and 
again took up the tomahawk, and be- 
came as savage as ever. General Rutus 
Putnam built a block-house to shelter 
his people from them, but they would 
cross the Ohio, kill a family or two, and 
steal horses, and get back across the 



river, where they felt themselves all 
safe. But the States of Virginia and 
Pennsylvania employed a parcel of 
young men as spies or sharpshooters, to 
look out for them when they came over, 
and to give the alarm to the inhabi- 
tants, upon which all would flee to the 
block-house for protection. This block- 
house was located in Green county, 
Penn., on Wheeling Creek, about twenty- 
five miles from Wheeling, Va. In the 
fall of 1790, John Crow, Martin Crow, 
Frederick Crow, John Williams and 
Martin Wetzel had camped out, and 
some Indians came over the river and 
happened on their camp when they 
were absent from it. The Indians se- 
creted themselves near by, and waited 
till towards evening, when they came 
in. Four of them came in together and 
as they were entering their shanty the 
Indians fired upon them, killing John 
Williams, breaking Frederick Crow's 
arm, and making bullet holes in the 
clothing of the others. The three not 
killed immediately sprang into the 
woods and ran in different directions. 
Martin Crow said he ran by a big tree 
behind which a big Indian was stand- 
ing, who fired upon him, sending a ball 
through his ear, the muzzle of the rifle 
being so near his head that the flame 
scorched his hair. He ran until he came 
to a small stream, across which he at- 
tempted to leap, but the stream being 
wider than he supposed, he jumped into 
the water and fell down, wetting his 
gun and clothes ; he scrambled up and 
ran on. Having run a short distance, he 
looked back and saw the Indian stand- 
ing on the bank of the stream where he 



—49— 



had jumped from. He saw the Indian 
lay down his gnn, and taking his toma- 
hawk in his hand, ran down stream to 
a shallow place, cross over and give 
chase. Crow put for a big hill which 
was not far off. As he was going up 
this hill he again looked back, and saw 
that the Indian was gaining on him ; he 
therefore stopped, laid down his gun, 
and began hurling stones down upon 
his merciless pursuer. He could throw 
a stone almost as straight as he could 
shoot, and when a stone would go whirl- 
ing down the hill the Indian would 
dodge behind a tree. He in this way 
kept him in check a short time, and 
when he could gain a moment's time he 
would prick powder into his gun, 
and when the Indian came out from be- 
hind a tree he would point his gun at 
him, and so drove him off. Grow then 
went on up the hill, unloaded and re- 
loaded his gun, and hearing the dog 
bark which was out with his brother, 
John Grow, who had not returned to 
camp with the rest of the party, he 
started for him, but did not find him. 
About dark he heard the cracking of 
guns down at camp, so he changed his 
course to that in which he supposed the 
others had gone. A little after dark, in 
'the hope of being heard by some of his 
companions, he hooted like an owl, and 
then howled like a wolf, and soon heard 
an answer from one of them. In this 
way the three got together again. Find- 
ing Frederick Grow's arm broken, they 
set it as well as they could, and sent 
him home. The other two next morn- 
ing went back to camp, where they 
found John W illiams and John Grow 



dead and scalped, the latter having been 
shot just at dark, as he was coming 
alone to camp. 

The next spring on Easter Sunday in 
April, 1791, four of the Grow girls start- 
ed from home to Ryason's station, or 
block-house. It being a warm, pleasant 
day, they thought they would go up to 
the station. Having proceeded about 
half way, they met their brother, Mi- 
chael, on horseback. It was their cus- 
tom to send Michael two or three times 
a week up to the station to get the news. 
When he met the girls he tried to per- 
suade them to go back home, but the 
girls thought they had got so far on the 
way they would go the whole distance. 
About twenty rods farther on there lay 
a large rock by the side of the read. 
When three of the girls reached this, 
three Indians stepped out from behind 
it and stopped them. The youngest girl, 
Tenah by name, was about fifteen rods 
behind them, and saw them stopped by 
the Indians, whom, however, she mis- 
took for negroes. Upon walking up to 
them, she now discovered her mistake. 
The Indians marched them up a hill 
nearly a mile distant, and stopped. Here 
they held a council as to the disposition 
of the girls. The girls, believing the 
Indians intended to kill them, also held 
a council among themselves, and agreed 
to all start at once and run in different 
directions, thinking that as there were 
four of them and but three of the In- 
dians, some of them might get away. 
They accordingly started, and Tenah 
said she had run but a short distance 
when a tomahawk struck her in the back 
and knocked her down upon her hands 



—50— 



and knees. She got np, and looking 
back, saw one of her sisters having a 
wonderful tussle with an Indian. She 
ran a short distance to a hollow in the 
side of the hill, down which she went 
to the road, and so home, where she 
told the news. Some men soon collect- 
ed for pursuing the Indians, and rescu- 
ing the other three girls. But there was 
not force enough collected until next 
morning, then a search was made, and 
two of the girls were found lying on the 
ground, dead and scalped, the other was 
missing. Upon further search, a trail 
of blood was found, which was followed, 
and soon they found the missing girl 
lying on the ground, and yet alive- 
They took her home and she lived nine 
days in an utterly insensible condition. 
Tenah Grow, the one that escaped, and 
who was at the time of the adventure I 
have just narrated, ten years of age, 
married a Mr. John McBride, moved to 
Ohio and raised a large family. She 
lived in Noble county. In the year 1845 
I went down there and had an inter- 
view with her on this subject, which 
refreshed my memory. 

In 1803-3 there used to come to our 
house a man by the name of George 
Tush, and tell over his troubles. He 
said he lived about four miles from 
Crow's, on a farm. One day he and his 
wife stood out in the yard leaning 
against the fence, and looking at their 
hogs, when an Indian crept up and shot 
him through the breast, and he fell 
down. His wife ran into the house to 
her three children, and fastened the 
door, but three Indians came up to it, 
split it down, and got in after some 



time. While they were working at th > 
house, he got up, crawled away and hi . 
himself, but saw the Indians take hi 
wife and children away. After thej 
were out of sight, he crawled off to i. 
neighbor's, about a mile away, when 
he got some men to go after his family 
and the Indians. They went and found 
where the mother and her children had 
all been killed and scalped. The Indians 
went to another farm, stole two horses 
and made good their escape. Tush fre- 
quently came to our house, told over his 
story and would cry like a child. The 
wound in his breast was always a run- 
ning sore. 

In 1800 my sister married Martin 
Grow, above mentioned as being shot 
through the ear. I lived with them 
most of the time for three years, and 
often heard him tell over these stories, 
and I never forgot them. 

In the fall of 1791, Martin Grow, with 
twenty others, crossed the Ohio River, 
thinking to pay the Indians in their 
own coin. After crossing the river they 
made a rule not to fire a gun. They 
traveled on almost a day's journey. As 
they were going along they saw a big 
black bear sitting near a laurel thicket, 
and as they approached him he ran into 
the thicket. They thought . they must 
have him, so they cut sticks to which they 
tied their knives, thus making spears of 
them. Some went round to drive him 
out, while the others repaired to the 
place where they thought he was com- 
ing out, and as soon as he got out they 
pitched into him, rough shod, and 
speared him to death. Martin said the 
bear was so fat that he could run but 



-51— 



slowly ; any of the party could out-run 
him. They stayed there all night, tak- 
ing two good meals, supper and break- 
fast, out of him. The next day they 
again pursued their course. In the after- 
noon they struck an Indian trail, which 
lay along the stream, probably the Big 
Sandy, south of Canton, which appeared 
to be very much traveled. On this ac- 
count they proceeded with caution. In 
a short time after discovering this trail 
they came upon a couple of wigwams, 
which they surrounded, and found two 
squaws and three papooses. As they 
closed up the squaws became desperate- 
ly frightened at seeing so many "shem- 
ocamnm," as they called the white man. 
From these squaws Crow and his party 
tried to find out where the Indians 
were, in which, however, they did not 
succeed. The squaws thought they were 
to be made prisoners, and one of them 
went into a wigwam and brought out 
two bridles, and pointed in a certain di- 
rection, by which she was understood 
that the ponies were in that direction. 
She was given to understand that the 
ponies were not wanted. The squaws 
then concluded that they were to be 
killed, and one of them turned her back 
to the white men, covered her face with 
her hands, and stood trembling, evident- 
ly expecting to be tomahawked. Previ- 
ous to this, Crow had sworn vengeance 
against the Indians, and that he would 
kill all he could find, either in war or 
peace ; but when he saw that this squaw 
placed her life in his hands, to take it 
or not, as he pleased, his feelings 
changed so much that he could not in- 
jure her in the least. After this, the 



white men held a council, and deter- 
mined that if any of the papooses were 
males they would dispatch them, but no 
males being found among them, they 
were all left unharmed. A council was 
then held as to the best course to pur- 
sue, and it was determined to work 
their way slowly back to the Ohio. 
They believed there must be many In- 
dians somewhere in that vicinity, too 
many for their small band to encounter. 
The next day, as they were proceeding 
homeward, they saw a bear about two 
years old, feeding in a hollow. They 
scattered and surrounded him, and 
drove him up a big elm tree, the 
branches of which came out low. The 
bear climbed one of these branches. One 
of the party was named Kizzey Hames. 
He was made to believe that he could 
go up and knock the bear off the tree. 
They helped him up to a branch, and 
when he had about reached the bear, 
he began to yell and halloa, with the 
expectation of frightening the bear so 
that he would jump to the ground. In- 
stead of this, the bear turned and faced 
him. and began to come down. Eizzie, 
seeing there must be a collision between 
them, began to swing around under the 
limb, to let the bear pass, and as he 
came near him, he uttered a scream 
which frightened the bear so that he 
did jump off, and he came very near 
falling off with him. Upon reaching 
the ground, the bear was attacked and 
killed with the same kind of spears that 
had been used in the case of the fat 
bear in the laurel thicket. They feasted 
heartily upon the flesh, and resumed 
their journey. Upon reaching the Ohio 



-52— 



River, they learned that Gen. St. Olair 
had some time before marched from 
Pennsylvania into the North- Western 
Territory, that part which is now Ohio, 
and ap the Muskingam about thirty 
miles, with a force of twelve hundred 
men, for the purpose of attacking and 
destroying an Indian village situated 
there, which served as a sort of head- 
quarters for the Indians in their ma- 
rauding expeditions to the east side of 
Ohio, into Pennsylvania and Virginia. 
To meet this invading force of St. 
Glair's the Indians had collected at this 
place all their warriors from the sur- 
rounding country, which accounted to 
Crow and his party for their not finding 
any Indians, and also served to explain 
the meaning of the squaws attempt to 
tell them which way they had gone. 
Information respecting this expedition 
of St. Glair's was given me by a soldier 
named Troop, who served under him. 
The village which St. Olair set out to 
destroy was situated near Fort Johnson. 
Upon approaching the village, instead 
of marching directly in and taking it 
as he might have done, 3t Glair en- 
camped at some distance, and com- 
menced throwing up fortifications, thus 
giving the Indians time to send out run- 
ners, and bring in many hundred war- 
riors. The next morning they began to 
come in, at one time five hundred of 
them coming in a body. In the after- 
noon they began firing on the fortified 
camp of St. Clair, keeping up an inces- 
sant fire from all directions until night- 
fall. During the night all was silent, 
not a gun being fired. The next morn- 
ing, at the break of day, they opened on 



him again and soon drove him trom his 
camp. He thereupon retreated to the 
Ohio, losing in the battle and on the re- 
treat nine hundred of his men. 

It will thus be seen that about 1790 
hostilities were most actively carried on 
between the Indians and the whites, in 
the vicinity of Ohio. And it was on the 
4th of November, 1791, that Gen. St. 
Glair, who, we may remark, was the 
first governor of the North- Western Ter- 




. C. C. CACKLER, 
Son of Christian Cackler, author of **Recol- 
lections of an Old Settler." 



ritory, and who commissioned David 
Hudson as a justice of the peace ii» 1801. 
before the township of Hudson was or- 
ganized, or the State of Ohio ndmitfed 
into the Union, was so terribly defeat- 
ed near Fort Jefferson. It is therefore 



—53— 



probable that Brady's leap occurred in 
one of these years, and as Mrs. De- 
Haven's testimony is in favor of 1790, 
the greater probability is in favor of 
that year. 

JOHN BROWN. 

Having read the biography of John 
Brown, by one Redpath, and believing 
it to be false, I will now give a few 
facts coming under my own personal 
knowledge. 

John Brown was born May 9, 1800, 
and came with his father into Hudson 
township in 1805. I became acquainted 
with him when a mere boy, and knew 
him for forty years or more. I have 
often worked for his father in haying 
and harvesting during that time. John 
was married to a young lady by the 
name of Lusk, in 1837, and came into 
Franklin township in 1835. He bought 
eighty acres of land, and surveved it out 
into lots, expecting to build up a city 
right away. This land was purchased 
of Frederick Haymaker, and afterward 
known as Porter Hall's estate, upon a 
part of which the car shops of the A. & 
G. W. R. R. are built in Kent. I work- 
ed tor John, building turnpike roads to 
the amount of $300. He borrowed all 
the money he could of different parties, 
and then, in 1840, failed in business, 
and a large amount of those debts are 
still unpaid. One of my neighbors sold 
him a yoke of cattle for $80, and took 
John's note for them. The note was 
still unpaid at the time John was hung 
at Harper's Perry, Va. John owned 
eighty acres of land in the northeast 
corner lot in Hudson township, a man 
by the name of Daniel Gaylord holding 



a mortgage upon it. The mortgage was 
foreclosed and the land sold at sheriff's 
sale, and was bought by Amos Chamber- 
lain. John refusing to give possession, 
armed himself and two sons, taking pos- 
session of the big log house as a fort, 
cutting port holes through between the 
logs, being determined to hold posses- 
sion at all hazards. Chamberlain would 




MRS. POLLY OWEN. 

Mrs. Owen, who is a daughter of Christian 

Cackler, resides in Cleveland. 

turn his stock on the farm to pasture, 
and John would sally forth and drive 
them off. This, of course, brought on 
on a war of words, and John sued 
Chamberlain for trespass. In a letter 
written to him in June, 1841, John says : 
"I am making preparations for a long 
and vigorous prosecution of a tedious, 



—54- 



distressing, wasting, and long protract- 
ed war. ' ' After several lawsuits , Cham- 
berlain obtained an oiHcer and some 
men, and went to arrest John, and take 
possession of his property, John re- 
fused to give bonds to keep the peace, 
and was put in jail until the next morn- 
ing, and, no one appearing against him, 
he was released. Just previous to 
John's arrest. Chamberlain went to the 
farm to talk with him. They conversed 
together outside of John's fort, when 
harsh words and feelings ran high. 
John turned to one of his sons inside, 
and ordered him to shoot Chamberlain, 
but the boy refused. In the year 1842, 
John went to work for Capt. Oviatt, in 
Richfield township, in a tannery, Oviatt 
thinking in this way to get from him an 
account which John had been owing 
him in the store for a long time. But 
he found the longer he kept John the 
more he owed him. John went from 
here to Akron, to work for Simon Per- 
kins, who owned large flocks of sheep, 
and employed John to look after them, 
and superintend the shearing, sorting 
and marketing the wool. John, proving 
to be rather of a smooth fellow, Perkins 
sent him to Westfield, Mass. , and put 
him into a large wool depot. He was 
not as successful here as was expected, 
so Perkins sent him to Europe with 
about 400,000 pounds of wool to sell. 
He landed in London, and disposed of 
part of it. He then went to Belgium, 
selling some more, but not finding a 
very good market, he brought part of it 
back with him. Perkins said John sunk 
him about $70,000 in the operation. I 
knew John a good many years, and nev- 



er knew him to succeed in anything he 
undertook, in a business point of view. 

Now for a few incidents to show what 
he would do to accomplish his purposes. 

John's mother died in 1800, and in 
1810 his father married again to a Miss 
Root, of Aurora, who was afterwards 
the mother of three sons, half-brothers 
to John. He never liked his step- 
mother, and often had trouble with her. 
So he laid the following plan to have 
revenge : He and his younger brother, 
Salmon, obtained a half pound of pow- 
der and put it in the out-house under 
the seat. They then took a piece of rot- 
ten wood, or punk, and tied a string to 
it and suspended it from the seat in such 
a way that any person sitting down 
would loosen the fuse and it would drop 
into the powder. 

Knowing about the time she would be 
there, they set the rotten wood on fire, 
and went away. A hired man named 
Loomis, seeing the boys there, thought 
there was something going on, went 
and looked, and spoiled their plan. 
Having failed in this, John now began 
to study up the following plan to ac- 
complish his purposes : His father had 
built a new barn, and John noticed that 
his step-mother was in the habit of 
going up on the scoff old to gather eggs. 
He thought he would experiment again. 
So he took out the long boards and put 
short pieces with the ends coming be- 
tween the joists, and covered them over 
with straw. This proved successful, 
for she was thrown to the floor, some 
fourteen feet, with the short boards 
falling on her. John's oldest sister 
heard the noise, and going to the barp, 



—55— 



found her lyinfi; insensible and badly 
hurt. She was taken to the house. 
When John's father came home 
and saw how matters stood, he took 
John into another room and questioned 
him. Being satisfied who the guilty 



olothes, and returned to bed all right. 
After breakfast his father obtained a 
cowhide, and took him to the barn, and 
began to apply the rod of correction in 
earnest. John would jump at every 
blow, and howl like a panther. After 



A Scene in Kent in 1850. 




VIEW OF BUSINESS SECTION, SHOWING OLD CANAL AND COVERED 

BRIDGE. 
Reproduced from an old photo, enlarged by F, E. Poister, and presented to the COURIER 

by Mrs. W. A. Lee. 



one was, he sent him to bed and told 
him he would settle with him in the 
morning. John knew pretty well what 
was coming, so in the night he got up 
quietly, and went down to the tannery 
about thirty rods from the house, and 
took a tanned sheepskin and fitted it 
around his person nicely, put on his 



all was over, he took off his sheepskin, 
and his own hide was unhurt. The old 
man found it would never do to keep 
the boys together, so he sent Salmon to 
Pittsburg, where he was educated as a 
lawyer. He went to New Orleans, and 
died soon afterwards. 
It appears that when John was in 



-56— 



England, he fell in company with some 
Abolitionists, who took him to the bat- 
tlefield where the Duke of Wellington 
captured Bonaparte, giving him all the 
information they conid on the subject. 
When he came home he said he did not 
respect the laws of our country ; neither 
Congress that made them, nor the Pres- 
ident that executed them. He became a 
perfect outlaw, and would sacrifice 
home, friends, or his country to gratify 
his will for the nigger. Redpath says 
he was equal to either Washington, 
Cromwell, Moses or Joshua. This com- 
parison I think ridiculous in the extreme 
and shows lack of knowledge or a depth 
of ignorance which is to be pitied in- 
deed. Had this man any knowledge 
w hatever of the high and holy purposes 
which actuated the whole life and being 
of Washington, he never would have 
belittled him by placing on a common 
level with him such men as John Brown. 
As for Joshua and Moses, men whose 
lives were tempered by the presence and 
admonitions of God himself, I know of 
no trait of character in Brown which in 
any degree would stand comparison be- 
fore any enlightened people. For in- 
stance, look at his conduct in Kansas, 



which gave him the name of Ossowata- 
mie Brown. John claimed to trace his 
ancestry back to the landing of the May- 
flower, in 1620, one Peter Brown, a 
distant relative of John's, landing in 
Massachusetts at that time. They being 
called the Puritan Pilgrim Fathers, 
John himself claimed to be governed by 
the principles of this body: such as 
boring holes through their ears, to make 
converts of people ; or hanging Quakers 
for opinion's sake, &c. For instance, 
look at his idea of marching through the 
whole South and liberating the slaves, 
with but a few men to start with, show- 
ing what a fickle minded man he was, 
lacking in either judgment or good 
sense. 

The same day he was hung, in an in- 
terview with his wife, he requested her 
to obtain the bodies of his two sons, 
two sons-in-law, and his own, to burn 
them, and gather up the bones, and 
bury them at home. This shows how 
heathenish were his notions. 

It seems to me that no one but a traitor 
to his country, and an outlaw to the 
common cause of humanity, could have 
ever written such an untruthful account 
as is found in this book. 



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